Kaijou's Shiro
by Newt Is My Shank
Summary: When Kise Ryouta persuades part-time model slash bestselling author Ichijou Shiro to apply for the position of Kaijou's Basketball Club manager, what he does NOT expect is for every single basketball player he knows to start getting strangely attached to her - and not in the 'healthy' way either.
1. Prologue

**KAIJOU'S SHIRO**

Prologue

* * *

"Ne, Shirocchi?"

Ichijou Shiro perked up tiredly from her seat, her snowy-white hair tied into her usual side ponytail as she casually flicked through the pages of her research notes. There were several hair stylists and make-up artists flitting and fawning around her, and with all the chatter and movement in the studio, she really felt that it was a miracle that she could even _hear_ Ryouta through all that noise.

"Yes, Ryouta?"

Kise Ryouta, the all-too-beautiful poster boy for **Zunon Boy** looked like _a million bucks_. The basketball player had his hair pulled back with a headband so one of his overly excitable make-up artists, one 'Yuri-chan' could touch up on his already fuck me-worthy face. Like Shiro, he was in the Kaijou uniform, donned in his trademark silver earring and amiable smile. He had a bottle of sparkling water in his hand and was animatedly chatting with various people at once. And – _again_ – Shiro wonders how is that even _possible_.

Because why?

Well, being called up for a way-too-early photoshoot by their agency in the wee hours of the morning on a bloody _Sunday_ honestly _did not_ help matters at all. Shiro is amazed on how Ryouta can look like a god at five a.m. and still has the energy to chit chat with the make-up artists and the extras while wearing an overly formal school uniform.

"Have you joined any club yet?"

Shiro shut her book quietly and shook her head at her friend. She'd been so completely dedicated to her writing career and occasional modelling work that joining a club never really crossed her mind at the slightest. It wasn't as if Kaijou was one of those schools that made it mandatory for all students to join a club, thus she used that to her advantage to dodge time-consuming club activities.

If possible, Ryouta's eyes positively _sparkled_ when she admitted that – until he was promptly probed on the cheek by the bubbly make-up artist, who lightly admonished him for moving too much. Apologies followed.

"Why don't you join the Basketball Club then, Shirocchi?" Ryouta continued, craning his head slightly to stare at the white-haired model. Shiro had to cringe slightly at the sudden power of the blonde's 'notice-me-master' eyes and the excited flutter of his eyelashes. The girl could almost _imagine_ a tail wagging behind the teen.

"You are aware that I can't play basketball right?" Shiro raised a delicate eyebrow, leaning her hair back slightly so her stylist could remove the pale blue scrunchie tying up her hair. It was almost laughable when Ryouta grimaced at that reminder. He had once seen the girl play basketball – and after a brief epiphany – had to constantly repeat to himself that there _were_ actually people who could not play sports even if their lives depended on it. Like – shit – have you seen Momoi in the _kitchen_? The thought itself almost made Ryouta hyperventilate.

"You can be our manager then ~suu!" Ryouta proposed, golden-yellow eyes lighting up again, muscled arms propped over the arm of his chair in excitement. By now, his make-up artist was already rolling her eyes and moved on to re-fixing the model's hair and given up on putting foundation on his face. It wasn't as if he actually needed it anyway.

"I have no experience, Ryouta," Shiro furrowed her eyebrows, wincing slightly as her hair stylist started curling her hair. Sheesh, what was wrong with her hair that it needed curling _every single time_ they did a photoshoot? "And it would be troublesome, wouldn't it? I mean, like you, I still have commitments to attend to," Shiro added.

This time, Ryouta had a mischievous smile on his face. Which – _god damn_ – looked so sexy on him that it made half of the people in the studio blush a little. They also had several thoughts running into their heads that mostly went along the lines of _oh my god it should be illegal to look that hot, Kise-sama._

"Kanacchi told me that she was hoping you'd join the basketball club. Then we could do more photoshoots together!" Ryouta explained his tone eager. Now Shiro could _definitely_ see the tail wagging behind him.

It was a well-known fact that Kise Ryouta frequently appeared in the popular magazine **Zunon Boy** , which featured mostly of Ryouta's life as a model and basketball player. He was – as she mentioned earlier – the poster boy for said magazine. In Shiro's opinion, without the overexposure of Ryouta, **Zunon Boy** wouldn't be as popular as they were today. Have you _seen_ him?

If you wanted to compare how long Shiro and Ryouta worked as models, Ryouta was definitely in the business longer than the white-haired girl. She'd only appeared as the 'fresh, new face' in her last year of middle school – while Ryouta had modelled as far back as into _elementary school_. Shiro's modelling manager – Nakamura Kana – had specifically scouted the girl due to her status as 'teen author' and the fact that the white-haired girl was generally quite attractive – to join the modelling agency as a part-time model. At that time, Shiro's writing career had officially taken off, and the head editor – one Hyuuga Shiina – had made an agreement with the modelling agency regarding Shiro's modelling and writing career. The fact that Shiro would be 'modelling' to increase popularity and awareness of her book was considered very good publicity, and so it was a win-win situation for all three parties.

And with that, Ichijou Shiro became a part-time model and bestselling author.

However, it was by _sheer chance_ that the agency discovered that Shiro would be attending Kaijou in the same year as Ryouta, and Nakamura Kana took it as an opportunity to integrate Shiro with **Zunon Boy**. Shiro _herself_ wouldn't pass up the opportunity for the world. As much as she enjoyed doing promotional photoshoots for her book, it was really nice to work in a well-recognized lifestyle magazine with a surprisingly friendly and hardworking teen model.

Shiro wasn't featured as often as Ryouta though – much to her disappointment – as she honestly _did_ have fun working with Ryouta to the point where they both hang out in Shiro's studio apartment after work (for one thing because Ryouta will _die_ before he lets a girl go home alone in the middle of the night). She kind of expected it though, considering the only link she had with Ryouta was that they were both models and attended the same school – also taking into consideration that she was also an author under a contract. But what if she joined her friend's basketball club? That _technically_ would give her an opportunity to be featured more often with the blonde, as 'Kise Ryouta's Basketball Manager' and consequently could be very useful in terms of gathering research for her new book…

Her calm façade slowly broke as excitement started to bubble within her. Ryouta must had sensed it too, as he had this overly cheerful look on his face, and – _Jesus Christ –_ imaginary puppy ears appearing on his blonde head. His make-up artist had officially given up styling his hair and walked away in a huff as Ryouta was already starting to _tremble_ in his chair.

Because just like Shiro, Ryouta _seriously_ enjoys working with the typically calm model slash author. She isn't like some of the female models who throw tantrums when something goes wrong and technically wastes the photographer's _and_ their co-workers' time by doing that. Shiro also isn't the type to be unprofessional out of whim despite the fact that she's pretty much an amateur; unlike some of the bitingly more _experienced_ models Ryouta's had to deal with. One time, Ryouta had to ditch a photoshoot because Kuroko's birthday apparently fell on the same day as the shoot. The blonde could practically feel the wrath _pour_ out of his manager Kyouka when she informed him that the girl he would have been working with could not stop crying because she wasn't going to be posing with 'Kise-kun'. She ended up refusing the photoshoot altogether and nearly getting fired by the modelling agency.

And thankfully, fucking _thankfully_ , Shiro is a freaking workaholic to the point where she doesn't even _consider_ having a relationship, much less _wanting_ a relationship with _Ryouta_. Ryouta was seriously _grateful_ when he met her for the first time and hearts didn't suddenly appear in her eyes when she saw him. Ichijou Shiro is pretty much the closest thing he has to a 'female friend' next to Momoi and Ryouta _seriously_ treasures the relationship they have on and off work. They've only known each other for less than four months and there's never a moment where they can't rely on each other when tension is high.

There had been _countless_ of times where Shiro would readily provide Ryouta an escape route from his fangirls and the stress of his modelling career at her apartment. There would be home-cooked food on the table; Shiro would sit on the couch with a laptop on her lap and a serious look on her face, while Ryouta sat cross-legged on the floor next to her, casually giving his own input on the story while relaxing to the comforting sounds of her typing. Shiro would then sigh in relief after finishing a good chunk of a chapter, set the laptop aside, and they'd both settle down in comfortable chit-chat while eating Shiro's 'vegetarian donburi'.

And there had been even _more_ times where Shiro would be completely _stumped_ while she is writing and become an irritable mess all day. Ryouta would _rush_ over to her apartment after work (or after basketball practice), armed with a Styrofoam cup of black coffee and takeout. Ryouta would then have to placate the girl's frustration with the drink and food and gently discuss her story part by part with her. Ryouta has done this so often that he's developed some sort of 'Editor's Sixth Sense' along the way.

Shiro doesn't know it, but Ryouta finds her to be a comfortable person to be around with and is not doing this because 'he owes her for letting him crash at her place' or anything. And that is why the blonde really, _really_ wants the girl to be Kaijou's basketball manager. Imagine the fun they'd have working together!

"I'll try to apply tomorrow," Shiro told Ryouta, "it'll be hard though, considering I have no experience."

Ryouta waved her off – a little too wildly, I may add – as he nearly fell off his chair doing so. "Don't worry, Shirocchi! I'll make sure your application's streamlined to Coach! We'll be working together in no time!"

Shiro smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Ryouta."

The blonde can't help but feel an almost indescribable, heart-wrenching emotion blossoming in his chest when Shiro smiles at his declaration, her curly white hair flitting around her soft-looking face slightly, a happy glow in her silvery-blue eyes. Ryouta promptly loses his balance at the sight.

 _BAM!_

"K-Kise-kun!"

"Uwaah! Kise-kun, are you alright?"

"H-Hey, R-Ryouta!?"

The blonde model groans slightly as he feels blood coming out of his nose and twenty over make-up artists and stylists and extras freaking out while somebody is screaming to 'GET THE FUCKING ICE PACK!'

And all he could think about for the entire day was wondering whether he'd developed heart cancer.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Sorry that this chapter is mostly exposition, I'll be writing about Shiro's first encounter with Kaijou in the next chapter! Also, there's no set pairing for this fic yet. So...yeah. Also, I don't own KnB and I'm currently in hospital trying to get some writing in before I start crying hysterically.


	2. Chapter I

**KAIJOU'S SHIRO**

Chapter I

* * *

The next afternoon, just a little after class ends, Shiro has to ask several people for directions on where the basketball club's gym is located. Mainly because the first six people she asked were all guys who ended up stammering and blubbering and having relapses the minute they see her. The seventh was a girl who barely managed the first six syllabuses of her sentence before she ended up blushing and asking the white-haired author for an autograph.

Now, she's fifteen minutes late to meet the coach and is already panting when she makes it to the gym.

"Ah, there you are," Coach Takeuchi Genta's voice clashes with the white-haired girl's, "Sorry I'm late" as he catches her running towards his direction. He's a portly man, with some stubble on his chin and looking at her like he's permanently stoned. Shiro does not have the best impression of him as she quickly smooths out the wrinkles of her skirt and grey sweater. She's aware that she looks like hell after pulling an all-nighter on the second chapter of her novel last night and she's sure that her ponytail is too lose and there's bags under her eyes.

"Ichijou Shiro, am I right?" Kaijou's Coach says, before suddenly realizing what he had just said.

"Eh, aren't you're the one who wrote _We Live in Eden_?" Coach Takeuchi asks in shock, not noticing the slightly exasperated but satisfied look on his future manager's face at the mention of her very first story submission in **Zunon Boy**. She's amazed that somebody actually remembers that story, which really shouldn't be called a story, now that she thinks about it. She recalled feeling like she just wrote a self-help enlightenment article for lonely, heartbroken, middle-aged men.

"Yes sensei, and I'd really appreciate if you don't treat me any differently because of that," Shiro says, giving a low bow, hoping that it'll distract her teacher slash coach from pressing any further.

"Ah! Of course I won't. Rest assured," Coach Takeuchi reassures her, before quickly getting down to business.

"Let's get this out of the way, then. Normally I don't accept manager applications, seeing as most of the students who apply for it are girls who are only interested in ogling at our Ace," Coach gestures to the locker room, "it has become very troublesome to weed out an unbiased manager because of that."

Shiro sweatdrops. She's not that surprised to hear that. In fact, she's waiting for the fangirls to start storming in at any moment.

"However, Kise has greatly recommended you, and we're in great need for someone who can handle club management and administrative work." Shiro can't help but smile slightly at the thought of Ryouta hounding after his coach and pestering him to 'accept Shirocchi!'

"He's also mentioned that this will be the first time you're doing something like this, so I'll guide you for a bit," Coach Takeuchi pulls out a keychain with the words ' _Nationals #1!'_ on an orange lanyard. There's three keys on it.

"These are the spare keys," Coach Takeuchi points to each key in turn, "every day after school, you have to lock up the gym, equipment room and the club room. I'll give you my phone number, and I'll tell you in advance when I need you to set up the audio-visual equipment for meetings. I'll get the Captain to assist you with team and game statistics as well as sorting out the training menus. Other than that, you have to clean the locker room once a week. We spring clean the club room every month so you don't have to worry with that." Shiro watches, deadpanned, as the coach appears to look gravely sick at the mention of cleaning the club room. The white-haired girl can't help but get the feeling that 'Coach has seen some shit'.

"In games, you need to make sure that _only_ the regulars and reserves are sitting on the bench and wearing the correct numbered jerseys. Keeping them hydrated is your top priority, and supplying towels, ice packs as well as the occasional light snacks during half-time. I recommend honey-soaked lemons." Coach Takeuchi suddenly has a blissful expression on his face that he badly masks. Shiro badly masks the need to facepalm.

"Otherwise," Kaijou's Coach coughs slightly to get back on track, "you'll be mostly doing errands for me. Anything else that I haven't mentioned I'll tell you in due time. Also, I am aware of yours and Kise's job situations, but you'll have to inform me a day in advance if you need to leave early from practice. For starters, I'll introduce you to the team, and your job for now will be to familiarize with them and learn their positions, abilities and training menus."

There's a pregnant pause where Coach doesn't say anything, but stares at his student with surprising calmness and seriousness that goes comically well with his chubby face.

"Are you prepared for this, Ichijou?"

Shiro doesn't miss a beat and affirms with, "Yes Coach."

Coach Takeuchi nods at her in approval, just as the boys finish changing and are gradually emerging from the locker room. Shiro winces slightly when the Coach barks at them to hurry the hell up just before he jauntily pats her shoulder.

"I also expect you to sign my limited edition copies of _We Live in Eden_ , _Continuing Eden_ and _Leaving Eden_ on my desk," Coach Takeuchi adds just as he walks away from her to start practice, "please see to it that they are autographed by the end of practice, _Manager_."

Shiro has never felt the urge to punch a middle-aged man so much in her life.

* * *

Kasamatsu wants to die.

No, he wants to die bringing Kise down to hell with him. Death by Face-Kicking would be Kasamatsu's _modus operandi._

He recently threatened the blonde that if he hears him fanboy over 'Kurokocchi' one more time he's drop-kicking him down Mt. Fuji.

Kise doesn't. Now he's fanboying over some person called 'Shirocchi'. It's three in the afternoon and the Captain of Kaijou's Basketball Team is almost at the end of his tether.

"Eh? We're getting a manager?" Moriyama gives an overdramatic sigh and slumps moodily while tying his laces, "it's probably a guy…"

"You can blame Kise for that, Moriyama," Kobori – who's doing his stretches – adds dryly.

"Wah! So mean, senpais ~suu!" Kise cutely pouts, arms folded in indignation.

"That's so co[ol]! I bet he's sup[er] [cool], [ri]ght, Kise!?"

Kasamatsu doesn't miss the devious smirk that crosses over their Ace's face at the question. The captain is starting to feel a _little_ unsettled by the sound of their new 'manager'.

"You'll see ~suu."

* * *

Okay, Kasamatsu is definitely going to _murder_ the blonde. But he can't. Because whatever – or _whoever_ – is facing him, is making his entire face go red in 0 – 100 and his brain is malfunctioning so hard he's afraid that the next few words that come out of his mouth is going to condemn him to social suicide.

Because there's a girl standing less than a meter away from him and is staring at him like he's an extremely interesting specimen she's ready to dissect.

And it's not just _any_ girl either, it's freaking _Ichijou Shiro_ , part-time model for **Zunon Boy** and author of bestselling murder mystery slash tragedy novel _Remember Me From the Dead_. And damn him that she is actually really, really _pretty_. Kasamatsu is conflicted between avoiding her gaze and staring intently at how her ponytail is slung very loosely over her shoulder and the way her long fringe is lazily pinned up with black, cross-shaped hair pins. It's her silvery-blue that are startling though. From a brief glance, Kasamatsu can tell that she's one of those types that look like cinnamon rolls but can actually kill you, fuck you over, before reviving you so she can use you for her military project.

"Listen up! From today onwards, we will be having a manager to help out with assisting the club!" Coach Takeuchi announces loudly, and beckons the young girl to start her introduction. The white-haired student steps forward before taking a short bow. There's no expression on her face as she introduces herself.

"My name is Ichijou Shiro from Class 1-A, and I'll be the manager for Kaijou's Basketball Club for the next couple of years. I hope we can cooperate well to make Kaijou No. 1 in Japan."

Immediately, excited murmurs and chatter resonate across the gym.

"Oi oi, isn't that the author of _Remember Me From the Dead_?"

"Uwah! I can't believe she's gonna be our manager!"

"Hey, do you think I can get her phone number?"

"Isn't she a model too? Same as Kise!"

From the corner of his eye, Kasamatsu can see Kise waving his arms frantically at the stoic girl, who catches notice of him at once and her lips twitch slightly at the sight. The captain doesn't need to know how Moriyama is reacting, as he can already feel the flirty teen's flowery aura from half a mile away and can already hear him starting to spout overused pick-up lines like a broken recorder. Hayakawa is blushing and his jaw is dropping in shocked awe and overall looks like he's going to badly shit himself. Their resident megane Nakamura Shinya only looks faintly surprised, but otherwise seeming to be the only hormone-riddled teenager present who is not looking at their new manager like some sort of ancient relic from the Dark Ages. Kobori is acting impassive as usual, but the stiffness of his stance is already telling Kasamatsu that he's a few seconds away from breaking composure and asking their new female manager to sign his hardcover copy of _Remember Me From the Dead_ for him. As well as literally every single story submission the girl had written.

Yes, Kobori is a fucking Shiro fanboy.

"I expect every single one of you to treat her with the respect she deserves. If I hear that she's being harassed in _any way possible_ , I'm quadrupling everyone's training menu." The poisonous threat silences the room immediately as everyone pales at the thought of quadrupled training. Since they lost to Seirin, their Coach had been practically _grilling_ them with harder drills and even more strenuous training menus. Quadrupled training could even make even _Aomine Daiki_ drop dead from fatigue.

"Kasamatsu."

The Captain stands to attention sharply, and purposely avoids the younger girl's stare as he brings his attention back his Coach, awaiting his order.

"I'll leave Ichijou to you. Teach her the ropes. She'll need to be in the know of how our team works. If there's anything important that you need to tell me but I'm not there to receive it, relay it to her. I'll be leaving it to the both of you while I decide whether we should accept a practice match with Kamakura High School. Other than that, I having nothing else to say. Commence practice!"

The blow of Coach Takeuchi's whistle spurs everyone into movement, while Kasamatsu freezes completely on the spot, looking like a petrification victim from _H*rry P*tter and the Chamber of Secrets._

 _NONONONONONO THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING I CAN'T WORK WITH A GIRL NONONONO SHE'S CUTE BUT NONONONO THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE COACH WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME –_

"Yukio-senpai, please take care of me."

Suddenly the white-haired girl is just _so close to his face_ , their noses barely touching and he feels her way-too-emotionless silvery blue eyes meeting his own. Her skin is so amazingly white that the Kaijou Captain's eyes can't help zeroing in on the sharp contours of her exposed collarbones. No he is _definitely_ not looking at her bre –

"Are you okay, senpai? Your face is very red." And – _dear mother of god and everything holy does this girl not know the meaning of personal space_ – their foreheads are gently touching. She's leaning _so damn close_ to him and their lips are just barely millimeters apart and _oh god_ he can smell the faint scent of green tea deodorant on her –

Kasamatsu passes out.

"K-KASAMATSU-SENPAI!"

"O-OI CAPTAIN!"

"This happens EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN TIME KASAMATSU GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER MAN –"

Kasamatsu Yukio could feel his soul leave his body just as the entire team rushes over with a stretcher while he practically face-plants onto their manager's lap. Kasamatsu darkens even _more_ feeling his warm face rest on the soft, pale expanse of the girl's thighs and if it's any possible, his soul leaves him even _faster_.

 _Moriyama…please kick Kise in my stead for me…_

For the first time in Kasamatsu Yukio's life, he feels completely, absolutely, irrevocably _screwed_.

* * *

"Does Yukio-senpai need CPR? I can perform –"

"SHIRO-CHAN/SHIROCCHI/MANAGER-SAN NO."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I do not own KnB. All rights belong to my bae Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

Yes, as a reminder, Shiro _has_ written story submissions for **Zunon Boy** and several other lifestyle magazines. Her first published novel that kickstarted her career is a story called _Remember Me From the Dead_ which is a murder mystery series she's planning on continuing. Just wanted to let you guys now.

Also, is it *changing rooms or *locker room?


	3. Chapter II

**KAIJOU'S SHIRO**

Chapter II

* * *

After the whole fiasco with Kaijou's feared Captain passing out on their manager's lap, practice swiftly resumed as if nothing ever happened – which was of course a huge and blatant lie that everybody was absolutely guilty of.

Regular warm-ups were a mess, since everyone was too distracted by the new addition to their club to concentrate. During shooting practice, more than five guys were trying to show off and ended up missing every single shot. While they're doing suicide drills, there is at least a casualty rate of two guys per second because they're not paying attention to where they're going. It also doesn't help that Shiro is studying them with great interest and curiosity. Interest because this is the first time she's actually watching a basketball practice at play, and curiosity because she is wondering why everyone is getting self-inflicted injuries during _warm-ups_.

In the end, everybody nominates Shinya to show her the ropes and hopefully distract her from staring at them so much, because the intensity of her eyes is starting to affect even _Kise_. The blonde model is missing every single pass and shot and is hitting anyone who's not paying enough attention to catch the ball.

Though that could be because even the friendly blonde himself is getting a _tiny_ bit pissed at the way his teammates are shamelessly eye-fucking one of his dearest friends, and is missing on purpose. The way-too-cheerful smile on his face when he apologizes for 'accidentally' hitting someone should be enough proof for that, really.

"I was not aware that basketball practice could be so…dangerous, Shinya-senpai," Shiro states, her clipboard out and already taking notes regarding the number of practice drills.

"It's just you, trust me," Shinya says frankly, pushing up his glasses.

"I'm simply wondering why it's you who's showing me the ropes senpai. I expected the vice-captain to do it."

Shinya shakes his head, and gestures to the tall third-year who's _desperately_ trying not to look their way.

"Kobori Kouji, jersey number 8 is our current vice-captain," Shinya smoothly explains, "he's also our center."

"Why isn't he teaching me then?"

 _Because he looks like he really wants to talk to you, if only he can get the shit out of his ass fast enough to do that. And I can assure you that whatever he wants to talk to you about will have nothing to do with basketball,_ Shinya inwardly sighs, annoyed by his senpais' hijinks and 'quirks'.

"You don't want to know."

Shiro takes that explanation with a brief 'Okay' and continues on a different line of questioning.

"So are there individual training menus for everyone? Besides what I've already seen," Shiro quickly switches topic.

Shinya, deciding to accept her change of conversation, nods and continues explaining to her the dynamics of their team as they occasionally watch the match play out. Today is the first-years against the second years, and Ryouta's team was barely pushing ahead by two points, which was a common occurrence in their practice matches. Shinya faintly notices the intense concentration behind Shiro's eyes as she quickly pens down whatever the bespectacled second-year is saying. The reserve shooting guard actually knows the white-haired girl through his mother and her modelling manager, Nakamura Kana, and is gravely aware of the amount of work the freshman girl goes through on a daily basis and feels like she's overdoing it with the whole manager kick.

"Aren't you tired?" Shinya asks bluntly.

Shiro blinks owlishly at him, before slowly nodding. "A little."

 _How vague._

Shinya deadpans, "Are you even getting enough sleep every night?"

"Four hours. I've been getting better at sleeping three."

 _No, that is not okay. That is DEFINITELY not okay. Even Kasamatsu knocks in for 5 hours a day, Shiro-san!_

"Shiro-san, why are you applying for manager?" Shinya asks straightforwardly, folding his arms and staring intently at the white-haired author. Like Kasamatsu and occasionally Kobori, Shinya has quite a bit of authority as a second-year of the Kaijou Basketball Club. He already looks intimidating with his generally stern-looking face and glasses, so it's impossible for anyone to actually deny him. He just wants to know the white-haired girl's motivation to be their club manager. He is not in favor of somebody who's only doing it _just because_ they can, or for attention for that matter, and still doesn't know what his mother is thinking suggesting the young author to join the basketball club.

"Because if you're doing it just for Kise, I suggest that you quit," Shinya adds, "it won't do to have the quality of your books drop just because you're too busy babysitting the team. And I'm perfectly aware that you need to keep your stamina and health in top shape for your modelling job."

Shiro seems a little bit stunned by what her manager's son is saying. There's a short-term silence between as the sounds of dribbling, running and panting being the only things that weren't making the silence too awkward. Just as Shinya is about to give up and tell the girl to forget about it, Shiro confidently breaks his worries in a single sentence.

"I am not doing this because Ryouta asked me too – even though I admit that his persuasions as well as Kana-san's contribute a huge factor in my decision to become club manager," Shiro explains firmly, "I'm doing it because as an author, I would be missing out a shining opportunity to gain valuable exposure of the inner workings of basketball and managing a club, and how it feels like to be part of a team."

Shinya takes a sharp intake of breath, a tiny bit unnerved by the calm stare his junior is shooting at him, and how the gym is suddenly so damn _quiet_.

"I am aware of the repercussions and consequences of my decision, and I will take proper action to ensure that it does not affect my well-being. Just like in my writing and modelling, I will give my all in helping this team reach the top," Shiro takes a deep breath, and relinquishes her stare on her senpai, "I am not lying when I say that I want to make Kaijou High's Basketball Team No. 1 in Japan, as long we can all co-operate to make it happen. I will take my job as manager as seriously as possible, and I will _prove_ it to you, senpai."

There's a moment where all time stops and Shinya feels that he and Shiro are the only two people in the room. There's a steely glint in her eyes and her lips are formed into a determined frown. Being the quietest and most observant on his team, Shinya can tell whether a person is lying or not giving their all through their words alone. And he can tell, for all the times he has the chance to watch Shiro at work; she's being completely _serious_ about her decision.

Shinya sighs anyway, the worried crease in his eyebrows fading slightly.

"I'll hold you to that then, Shiro-san," the bespectacled teen smiles tiredly at Shiro.

 _You keep to your word, and you're gonna fit in all right with us,_ is what Shinya wants to say but doesn't.

"Will do, senpai," Shiro agrees firmly, her usually stoic face glowing with determination.

Shinya wishes he can hold onto the peaceful moment for a while longer, but the loud sobbing behind them slowly breaks the burning tension between the two.

They whip their heads to the direction of the sobbing, and the second-year can't help but deadpan at what seemed like half of the Kaijou High Basketball Club _tearing up_ like little kids.

"H-How beautiful Hime! Of course we'll work together with you!" Moriyama cries out happily as he saunters forward and passes the white-haired manager a rose that appeared out of _nowhere_. "I'll be playing for you from now on, okay, Hime~?"

And to the horrified jealousy of the entire team, Moriyama lifts up the younger girl's hand and presses a kiss onto the back of her hand. As per usual, Shiro greatly fails to see the underlying meaning behind it. Instead, she gently pulls her hand away from the third-year and bows gratefully.

"Thank you, senpai, I apologize that I do not know your name yet, but I am truly appreciative of your efforts to make Kaijou number one," Shiro says earnestly. For a moment, the sparkly, lovestruck aura surrounding Moriyama dies and the pretty-faced teen seizes up completely. His brain is _completely_ failing to respond to the current situation right now because _shit I did not expect to go this far with her what do I do now?_

"YEAH! W[E'LL] MAKE KAIJOU NUMB[ER] ONE! [AAARGGGGGH]! I'M [ALL] F[IR]ED UP NOW!" Hayakawa slaps his cheeks enthusiastically, making everyone around him back away from him quickly. Shiro's silvery blue eyes widen at the sight and she quickly runs past the players to grab the power forward's hands with her own.

"Senpai. Please don't hurt yourself like that, you'll end up with brain damage in the near future," Shiro admonishes very seriously, which actually _does_ make Hayakawa stop as his cheeks redden considerably – and not from the slapping either.

"H-HAI! I'M V[ERY] S[ORRY], MANAG[ER]-SAN! I W[ILL] DO MY BEST TO STOP!" Hayakawa roars in embarrassment, making everyone sweatdrop because he resumes slapping himself hysterically after that.

Just as Shiro is about to stop the explosive rebounder again, she feels a heavy hand patting on her head, and looks up to see the vice-captain looking down at her with a calm but friendly smile on his face. And…was he _trembling_?

"Thank you for your words, Shiro-sensei, we're expecting great things from you," Kobori says, tone a little shaky as he gently pats his idol's soft white hair.

 _S-Sensei…?_ Everybody sweatdropped.

"SHIROCCHI~!" the white-haired girl jolts in surprise when a blonde-haired comet dashes towards her in the speed of light and throws himself face-first onto hair, tearing her away from their senpai's hand. Kise is smiling like an idiot while his arms are wrapped possessively around the smaller girl's waist, face nuzzling onto the crown of her hair.

"Your speech was awesome, Shirocchi~! I was so moved ~suu! I promise we'll become number one in Japan, just for you ~suu!" Kise promises sincerely, hugging the life out of the white-haired author.

" _HAAAAAAH?_ YOU SHOULD BE DOING IT FOR THE TEAM, IDIOT KIIISEEEEE!"

Shiro blinks in surprise when Kasamatsu flies out of nowhere and launches a kick onto the sobbing model's face before roughly pulling him up by the neck of his shirt.

"SAY SHIT LIKE THAT AGAIN ONE MORE TIME I'LL KICK YOU DOWN MT. FUJI!"

"But you already kicked me senpai –"

"Yukio-senpai."

Kasamatsu and Kise both snap their heads to their manager's direction. It takes a few seconds for Kasamatsu to process the situation properly before he realizes he's straight-up staring at the mildly disapproving face of Ichijou Shiro. Cue blushing and stammering.

"I understand that there is some form of disciplinary action needing to be taken when it comes to training and practice, but can you not kick Ryouta in the face? If you have to do it, do it on the chest," Shiro reprimands calmly, stepping _way_ too close into Kasamatsu's breathing space again.

"Shirocchi! I'm happy and yet I'm not ~suu!" Kise sobs dramatically.

Shiro briefly ignores the blonde and focuses on the Captain in front of her. She _still_ does not understand why her senpai's face is so red and why he's trying to avoid eye contact with her and looking like he wants to frantically blend into the wall behind him.

"A-A-Ahh..." Kasamatsu blubbers incoherently, his blush rising to the tips of his ears as Shiro steps closer to him.

"Also, it would be good if you do not forsake your health like this, Yukio-senpai," Shiro adds sternly, raising a hand and resting it against the captain's amazingly steaming-hot forehead, "you still have a fever. I recommend you –"

Kasamatsu faints for the second time that day.

* * *

Coach Takeuchi scratches his head in and stares at his phone screen in confusion.

…

 ** _May 23, Monday, 3:24pm_**

 **Ichijou:** Takeuchi-sensei, Yukio-senpai fainted. We're taking him to the infirmary.

 _…_

 ** _May 23, Monday, 4:34pm_**

 **Ichijou:** We're borrowing the Panadol from the first-aid kit for Shinya-senpai's headache. Mitsuhiro-senpai will not stop slapping himself. It's been twenty minutes. Kouji-senpai also appears to be having an extremely severe stomachache and has not left the toilet in a while. Yoshitaka-senpai has frozen in place and we're trying to defrost him.

 _…_

Coach Takeuchi pinches the bridge of his nose, and wonders how he's going to explain this to their parents. His phone vibrates.

…

 ** _May 23, Monday, 4:35pm_**

 **Ichijou:** Takeuchi-sensei, Yukio-senpai fainted again.

 _…_

Coach Takeuchi groans loudly. He is never leaving Shiro alone with his team ever again.

* * *

Kasamatsu jolts up from the infirmary bed.

"SHIT, WHERE AM I? WHO BROUGHT ME HERE? I NEED TO GO BACK TO PRACTICE –"

"Ah, Yukio-senpai, you're awake."

Kasamatsu freezes up as he notices that the warm, slender body of Ichijou Shiro is – yet again – in close proximity to him. Her white ponytail is tumbling over her shoulder and her silvery blue eyes are staring down at him in visible concern.

Kasamatsu's eyes can't help but dart down her body. He wishes he hadn't.

Because right now, Ichijou Shiro is wearing a low-cut nurse's uniform.

"Yukio-senpai, do you want some water –"

Kasamatsu's face blows up into an obscene, volcano-red color before he falls back onto the bed and passes out completely.

* * *

Shiro sighs to herself as she texts a quick message to Ryouta.

..

 ** _May 23, Monday, 5:00pm_**

Ryouta, it seems that your plan to make Yukio-senpai feel better has backfired. Senpai has fainted for the third time today.

…

After five seconds, Ryouta replies.

…

 ** _May 23, Monday, 5:00pm_**

 **Ryouta:** Ehhh? Really? You wore the nurse's uniform, right Shirocchi? Show me ~suu!

…

One selfie pic later, she sends a text with the media attached to Ryouta and asks what is wrong with it.

* * *

"Ah, a pic from Shirocchi~"

Kise taps on the latest notification and hums to himself as he waits patiently for the image to download.

"I bet Shirocchi will look super cute in a nurse uniform~"

He sees the picture and spits out his drink.

* * *

This time, it takes twenty minutes for Ryouta to reply as Shiro changes back to her school uniform.

…

 ** _May 23, Monday, 5:20pm_**

 **Ryouta:** Shirocchi. Delete this at once and promise me you won't take any more of these pictures again.

…

Shiro blinks in confusion and replies with a brief 'Okay' before packing up her things and returning to practice.

* * *

#Kise looks around nervously #he saves the picture on his phone #he's never letting Aominecchi see that picture

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Do not own KnB. Also, writing Takeuchi is impossible.

Also, I am aware that the formatting for the text is to the left instead of center, if anyone has any complaints on it, please PM me so I can change it.

Submit more reviews! They give me life and motivation to write! And a big thank you to three Guest users, **_gugusmith42_** , **_ILoveRebornNarutoKProject_** and **_Shiroji IA_** for the reviews!


	4. Chapter III

**KAIJOU'S SHIRO**

Chapter III **(RE-DONE)**

* * *

The next week seemed to whizz by like a breeze to one white-haired author. Besides sneaking in some quality chapter-writing time in between classes, Shiro had already filled in nicely to her role of basketball manager, much to the satisfaction of their Coach. She'd initially regretted not joining earlier, as by the time she'd applied, Kaijou had already earned itself the title of Champions of the Kanagawa Block and would be playing for the Quarter Finals of the Interhigh Final League in two weeks time. Shiro would be lying if she wasn't trembling with excitement to the point where she had half the members of the Basketball Club coming up to her and asking whether she was feeling under the weather.

(She wasn't. Though she admitted she was excited to the point where she'd caught a really shitty fever the next morning.)

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait that long to watch her team play, as her chance came by this very weekend where Kaijou would be having a 'friendly' practice match against the runner-up of their block, Kamakura High School.

They were a strong school, she admitted. She'd spent a good hour watching some of their match tapes, and with her eyes that she often used to read people's characters, personalities and habits, she had finally come to a startling conclusion.

Her everyday ability to read people was rendered _completely useless_ when it came down to reading a player's movements and thoughts. This was mainly because of her lack of actual experience in the field and overall knowledge of the game and basketball plays. This had resulted in a fifteen minute time period of her depressingly sulking, which sparked off _another_ round of basketball players coming over and asking her whether she needed to take early leave.

(Ryouta bought her nikuman afterwards. She felt thoroughly better after eating it.)

However, her one hour of tape-watching was not entirely vain. She _did_ manage to roughly estimate their opponent's characters. For example, Kamakura High's captain and center – who she was going to call 'Sleazebag-kun' – had a somewhat perverted aura around him, and whenever Shiro saw him playing, it made her feel somewhat violated. Their point guard – 'Violently Handsome-kun' – was very violent and easily provoked to the point of recklessness on court. However, Shiro found them both exceptional players whose aggressiveness and power when playing basketball easily made her overlook those less than desirable traits.

And with that, she went home feeling a little better ( _especially_ after the nikuman) and had quickly settled into her routine of finishing the third chapter of _Remember Me From the Dead_ 's sequel before falling into a peaceful sleep next to Ryouta.

She was definitely going to give it her all for tomorrow's practice match, she thought to herself.

(And with that, the regulars – and mainly the starters – of the Kaijou High Basketball Team all felt sudden chills ricochet down their spines. Because tomorrow's match against Kamakura High was no doubt going to be the realization point for the entire team that Ichijou Shiro may have attracted more trouble than they'd bargained for.)

(...And may actually be a bit more fragile than they'd initially expected.)

* * *

Shiro woke up to the sound of her apartment door opening and the heavenly aroma of fresh breads and coffee hitting her senses.

"Ryouta," she breathed dreamily, eyes still shut in fatigue as she rolled her shoulders, wincing slightly at the tiny ' _crack'_ of her bones as she did so, "you are a godsend."

Shiro felt tiny, unexpected goosebumps appearing on her skin upon hearing the blonde's light, cheerful laughter at her praise, and almost gave an unladylike yelp when she felt herself getting picked up like a rag doll and thrust into the other model's puppy-like embrace. She felt her cheeks redden uncharacteristically when she looked up at Ryouta – who still looked as stupidly handsome and attractive as _ever_ , all smiles and twinkles and shit.

"Shirocchi~ you're always more emotional in the morning ~suu," Ryouta smiled into her messy bedhead. Shiro nodded sleepily, returning the hug and smiling a little herself as she felt skilled fingers pressing onto her head and fixing her hair.

"Mm…good morning Ryouta…what did you buy for breakfast?"

"I got your favorite black coffee and red perilla tea, some croissants, and cheese and onion bread," Ryouta said happily, satisfied by the state of his friend's hair before removing himself from the smaller girl to place a very light kiss on the top of her head, "and good morning to you too, Shirocchi. Excited for today?"

Shiro nodded with a bit more enthusiasm at that, not questioning why Ryouta just kissed her. She thought it was something friends did, after all.

"I'll go check whether the honey-soaked lemons are ready for consumption…you can set the table then…" Shiro gave a final yawn as she slowly walked towards the kitchen, Ryouta following curiously behind her.

"L-Lemons?" Ryouta gave a nervous gulp, a rather worrying memory concerning a certain pinkette friend and whole, _fucking_ lemons in honey entering his mind.

"Coach recommended that I try make some before games," Shiro explained, opening the fridge and smiling blearily as she retrieved a large container filled with a gooey, orangey-yellowish liquid.

Before the girl could even blink, the blonde model had already taken the container away from her hands and was hurriedly taking off the top, breathing hard.

And lo and behold, what lay in front of him was a container filled three-quarters to the brim with luscious honey, and two dozen pieces of finely cut lemon slices sitting inside the glistening liquid, like ambers in crystalized water.

Suddenly nightmarish experiences of female managers/coaches of athletic teams with no sense of cooking ability were forever cleansed from Ryouta's mind.

"Ryouta…are you crying?"

"…No…~suu…."

* * *

Somewhere across Tokyo, Momoi Satsuki sneezed loudly. So did one Aida Riko, who suddenly felt the need to give tripled training to the already-suffering members of the Seirin Basketball Team.

* * *

The two friends ended up having a _somewhat_ peaceful breakfast together – emphasis on _somewhat_ –, with Shiro almost _cringing_ at the beautiful, bitter taste of black coffee invading her taste buds while Ryouta rambled on relentlessly on the latest incident with an undeniably irritating-sounding female model. Apparently Ryouta had almost dropped his friendly façade that he normally reserved for girls after what had transpired during the day before yesterday's photoshoot.

"She kept coming onto me and kept annoying me by trying to get my number –"

"Pass the strawberry jam, Ryouta."

"– And kept saying mean things about you, Shirocchi…" Ryouta continued on, gently pushing the jar of strawberry jam towards the author, "Kyoukacchi almost wanted to snap at her! It was lucky that Kanacchi wasn't there ~suu…"

Shiro shrugged and accepted the homemade jar of jam from the blonde. "It doesn't matter to me, Ryouta."

"But it should ~suu!" Ryouta said, something akin to annoyance and offense reaching his honey-gold eyes. The white-haired girl should've _been_ there during the photoshoot. The blonde copycat was about half an insult away from just going ' _fuck it_ ' and ripping a new one into that redheaded bimbo. And his manager, Kyouka, was even _closer_ to buying a rope and wringing her _neck_ with it.

Shiro sent a small smile his way and started spreading some jam over her croissant.

"It's fine. Unless physical assault is involved, I won't care, and you shouldn't care on my behalf, Ryouta."

Ryouta gave an indignant pout and nodded. "Fine ~suu."

And with that, Ryouta and Shiro resumed eating their breakfast, with the former grudgingly introducing slightly more light-hearted conversation along the way.

(Neither of them knew how true Shiro's words were going to be during the practice match later that day.)

* * *

"Kasamatsu, calm down."

"Just ignore them, Kasamatsu, we'll beat them in the match later."

"Yeah! [We'll] make them s[orry] they said that about Mana[ger]-san!"

Kasamatsu roughly nudged Hayakawa away, a hot, fiery anger flaming in the captain's eyes as he almost ripped his shirt from over his head and shoved it angrily into his designated locker.

"I'm amazed that the _three of you_ are telling _me_ to calm down," Kasamatsu muttered coldly, rummaging through his bag and trying his best not to rip out his basketball jersey, "they're talking crap about _Shiro_ , you know. Not rushing in to defend her?"

Kobori gave a similarly angry grunt and started taking his shirt off with much less grace than usual, "Trust me, we are."

"And [we'll] definit[ely] make them pay, Captain –!"

"But Hime would be disappointed if our match gets cancelled because we couldn't control our temper and started sending some trash to the ICU," Moriyama continued with a rather terrifying glint in his eyes, his tone going completely frigid.

"Indeed. I think they need an in-court lesson on how to keep their mouths _shut_ ," Nakamura added with a biting sneer, slamming his locker shut to accentuate his point.

When they had let the Kamakura High players into their gym earlier that morning, their captain and point guard had immediately went up to the practicing Kaijou High players and asked where their manager was.

When Kasamatsu calmly asked why, their point guard had all but smirked at him before proceeding to loudly proclaim that he wanted to use this practice match as a competition with Shiro as the prize. When a good majority of the club angrily shouted out their refusal of the competition, with many voicing out that 'Shiro-chan'/'Ichijou-san/'Manager-san' was her own person and could do whatever she wanted – Kamakura High's captain said something that made every single one of them want to physically spit _fire_.

"C'mon, let's all be honest 'ere, shall we? We all know she don't know jack shit 'bout bask'tball. You're all just keepin' her around for her body, aint'cha? I bet she's one helluva whore for cock. So why don'cha we share her then, eh? I bet her mouth's as good as 'er books –"

Kobori had to _yank_ Hayakawa away from beating the living shit out of the Kamakura High captain, though Kobori seemed to be internally conflicted himself between letting the pissed off rebounder go and going over to kick some ass instead. Moriyama was visibly _seething_ , and even the level-headed Nakamura's eyes were flashing with deadly intent. The rest of the club responded very similarly, with many going as far as promises for bloody murder before being held back by the remaining barely-rational members of the team. Though they had to admit – out of all of them, Kasamatsu definitely _looked_ the angriest, his fists clenching until his skin bled and an angry vein pulsing visibly on his neck.

It was no lie that Kasamatsu froze up whenever a girl was concerned – especially if it was someone like Shiro (well he _was_ getting better) – but he was _not_ going to lie down on his stomach while these douchebags talked shit about his team and manager in front of _him_!

In the end, their respective coaches, Coach Takeuchi and Kamakura High's Coach Heishi had to step in to calm both teams down from going into an all-out basketball war. While Kaijou's Coach was reasonably _furious_ at the scandalous accusations directed towards his team and manager, Coach Heishi seemed to act like it was perfectly normal to have some 'pre-game banter' and didn't even _berate_ his team for their degrading comments. It made the chubby Kaijou coach angrily liken the Kamakura High Coach and Captain to the older versions of Imayoshi Shoichi and wonder why the _fuck_ did he even accept their invitation for a practice match.

Kasamatsu would disagree. He'd played with the Touou captain before, and even though he'd come under the brunt of the other captain's psychological warfare tactics and 'shitty personality' more than enough times to count, he knew that Imayoshi respected women as much as the next self-respecting person did. Imayoshi Shoichi would _never_ say or _do_ anything derogatory to a girl if said teen's younger sister had anything to say about it.

They ended up deciding to 'settle it on court', with the Kamakura High point guard's parting words igniting even _more_ hatred into the retreating Kaijou Team's backs.

* * *

" _Make sure to watch out for that pretty little chick of yours. You don't want her to get her wings burnt off so early, do you?"_

* * *

Eventually, the Kaijou High Basketball Team did calm down by a considerable amount – if not feeling a bigger need to treat this practice match like the equivalent of the Winter Cup finals and crush their opponent team to _dust_.

"We can't let this affect us," Kobori said, sighing, "The only reason why they're doing this now is because Shiro-sensei is here."

"I don't get it. Why wo[uld] they be doing it because of Mana[ger]-san?" Hayakawa asked.

Kasamatsu pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping the blood rushing to his head would reside quicker. "I doubt Shiro is aware of it yet, but Kamakura High has a dirty reputation of using a specific off-court psychological warfare tactic. It's something that Imayoshi occasionally practices, to say the least."

"Kamakura High specializes in using this one particular tactic called ' ** _Besiege Wèi to rescue Zhào_** _'_. It's a win tactic that goes like this: ' _When the enemy is too strong to be attacked directly, then attack something that they hold close to them or value dearly. Take the indirect approach and find their Achilles heel_ ," Nakamura explained coolly, "in a way, it's very similar to Kirisaki Daichi's MO of physically crippling the opponent team's ace, except in this case Kamakura attacks their weakest link – and the one who holds the most emotional and psychological power over the team."

"Last time we didn't have a 'weakest link'," Kobori said.

"And now we do," Kasamatsu spat, "their point guard's parting words should not be taken lightly. Kamakura High has a penchant for harassing, threatening and assaulting the opponent team's managers, _especially_ if they are female. And we just _walked right into their fucking trap_."

Hayakawa's eyes grew wide, the two red spots on his cheeks signifying a mix of confusion and anger.

"With our reactions just now, Kamakura High is now aware that Shiro-san is more valuable than they'd expected," Nakamura said lowly, gritting his teeth, "we just _showed_ them her importance to us. And if that disgusting captain's reputation is being put into question, they're going to do the third thing Kasamatsu-senpai mentioned that they're _very_ well-known for doing."

The air went completely cold, the other members of the team not at all uncomfortable with the frigidity of the atmosphere as the feeling is mutual – they are _not_ happy that they just walked into an opponent team's trap and stupidly risked their manager's life as a result.

"They are lucky that Kise did not hear what they said," Kobori murmured a bit morbidly, "if he did, he might –" his words were cut off when the doors to the Kaijou gym's locker room slammed open with two familiar figures quickly rushing in like their lives depended on it.

"WAAAAHHH! I'M SORRY ~SUU! ME AND SHIROCCHI GOT HELD BACK BY SOME REPORTERS –" Kise wailed against the door.

"We actually did, so please don't blame Ryouta. He was the one who personally dragged me out of that cramped situation, after all – " Shiro stopped talking the second she noticed that almost everyone was staring at her with deeply blushing faces.

"O-Oi, S-S-Shiro! W-We're cha-changing here!" Kasamatsu stuttered in embarrassment, now hurriedly pulling his shirt on.

"H-Hime! S-So bold!" a half-naked Moriyama exclaimed, showing off his bare torso like a proud mother.

"S-Sensei…I would like if you didn't watch us changing…" Kobori said with a light flush dusting his cheeks.

"M-MANA[GER]-SAN! I AP[OLO]GIZE [FOR] BEING NAKED –"

 _OH MY GOD JUST TELL HER TO GET OUT!_ Many of Kaijou's members inwardly yelled in unison, all hastily covering the respective naked parts of their bodies.

"Wahhh! Shirocchi don't look ~suu!" Kise shrieked, after realizing that he had just dragged the smaller girl into the locker room while his teammates were still changing and immediately covered the smaller girl's eyes with his hand.

"But Ryouta, I've seen you half-dressed before, I don't think this is anything –" Shiro gave an indignant shout when she felt her mouth being covered by the other model's hand.

Kise whipped his head around the room and gulped after seeing the murder and jealousy in everyone's eyes at the implications of her sentence.

"S-SHE MEANT DURING _PHOTOSHOOTS_! Y-YOU SEE W-WE'VE HAD SOME _SWIMSUIT_ PHOTOSHOOTS BEFORE –"

"Nnngmmmfffaahhdiiinn!" Shiro spoke through the muffled hand, which sounded suspiciously like ' _No we didn't!_ '

"I-I'll see her out, okay ~suu?" Kise laughed nervously as he proceeded to push the other girl outside before Kasamatsu stopped him.

"Escort her to the benches," the captain ordered, with a hand gripping tightly onto the copycat's shoulder. Before Kise could ask why, many of the regulars and members of the team had already shot him the same looks as their captain.

"Ooh...Um...O-Okay ~suu…I'll be quick!" Kise promised with an odd-looking smile on his face as they made their way out of the locker room.

The other members gave huge sighs of relief as they retreated back to changing.

"I'm just glad that Kise didn't seem to hear us," Kobori muttered.

Everyone murmured in assent, despite a part of their hearts wishing that he did.

(For the record, Kise didn't. But he's not stupid. He knows when something is up, and he hopes that it doesn't have anything to do with him or Shirocchi.)

(As usual, he's wrong on that part.)

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I DON'T OWN KNB IF NOT I'D HAVE MADE IT R21.

Oh yeah, there IS a reason why I sometimes use 'Ryouta' or 'Yukio' instead of 'Kise' and 'Kasamatsu'. If I'm showing a certain character's POV, I will be using their first name and using the names they refer other people in their POV. Like if it's Moriyama's POV, I'd be calling him 'Yoshitaka' so it'd be easier for readers to know who exactly I'm putting in focus, and then since he calls Shiro 'Hime', I'd be using 'Hime' for when I'm writing his POV. Unless I'm writing a general POV I will use everyone's last names except for Shiro.

Also, I redid this chapter because it pissed me off somehow that I could write something as repetetive as that. And I'm not too sure whether I was accurately writing an Osakan/Kansai dialect for the captain of Kamakura High (which is ACTUALLY a school that participated in the KnB Winter Cup which I only found out later on). And FML WHY AM I WRITING SHITTY VERSIONS OF IMAYOSHI AND HANAMIYA.

Also mb this chapter was pretty…dark?


	5. Chapter IV

**KAIJOU'S SHIRO**

Chapter IV

* * *

Shiro couldn't help but beam like a walking torchlight as she was being personally escorted to the benches, with Kise valiantly trying to find excuses to stay with her.

("I don't like how they're staring at you, Shirocchi…" Kise said, glaring at all the Kamakura High players with distaste. Shiro quickly dismissed the blonde's words easily and simply told him that he was being paranoid.)

In the end, Kise had to dash back to the locker room after realizing that Kasamatsu might actually kill him if he heard that the blonde was refusing to play because he was too busy sticking to their manager like glue. It wasn't an official match, but still. Plus, Shiro was genuinely more excited than usual and Kise didn't want to ruin her mood like that.

"Is there anything wrong?" she asked her Coach, who blinked at her as if he'd just snapped out of a trance. She noticed that her team was being somewhat uptight and severe when she sat down next to them. Did something happen?

"Ah! No, nothing wrong, Ichijou," the chubby Coach said in reassurance, before angling his attention to the container of honey-soaked lemons on her lap.

"You actually took my advice," Coach Takeuchi said with a pleased smile, "how did it go?"

"I did a few tests a few days back with different portions and types of honey. Most of them were too sweet so I froze the honey and crushed the ice so it'd have a more cooling effect. I only thought of freezing it this morning though, which explains why I'm late," Shiro explained proudly.

Coach Takeuchi nodded in approval, salivating a bit himself at the tasty honey-iced lemons on his manager's lap. He always reminisced those good old days where his teammates would teasingly ask Araki to make honey-soaked lemons for them when she looked like she was in a good mood. Of course, it ended up with anyone stupid to ask her that question horribly, terribly injured and sent to the ICU. She often sent them her regards in the form of black roses. Yes, Masako Araki was humorously morbid like that.

Hmm…maybe he'll take one without the regulars looking…

"Hello, are you Ichijou Shiro-san?" asked a silky voice.

Shiro could faintly hear the hitching in the reserve players' and her Coach's throats as what seemed to be 'Violently Handsome-kun' approaching her. In fact, he was already standing a good step away from her and looking down on her with his admittedly chiseled face and well-styled dark hair. His eyes were a little too wide and happy for the white-haired girl's comfort but she otherwise regarded him with a nod.

"Yes, I am," she said, stretching her hand out, "and you are?"

"Karasuma Yuuto, pleased to meet you Shiro- _chan_ ," the sweetly sickening way he said her name made several players recoil. His voice alone resembled something akin to sweet, silky poison that made the rest of the Kaijou team plus their coach stiffen – which made them nonetheless extremely aggravated that they couldn't even _move a muscle_ to stop him.

"You must be the point guard of your team," Shiro voiced out, "Number 5. You're also the vice-captain, is my guess."

Karasuma's eyes widened in unexpected, questionable delight as he accepted her hand – and this time Shiro really _did_ feel like recoiling at the way his fingers curiously caressed her wrist as if he was wondering whether to _crush it_ or _break it_. It wasn't like how Ryouta would gently hold her hand and sometimes press them against his lips, with a content, lazy smile on his face as he whispered something like ' _Good morning, Shirocchi_ ' and indulge her with a hug before they went off for breakfast.

"How wonderful! A pretty girl like you taking notice of me!" Karasuma purred, making the smaller girl flinch slightly as he tightened the grip on her hand and yanked her towards him, the container of honey-iced lemons toppling onto the floor by a stunned Coach Takeuchi's feet.

"Tell me, what's a pretty girl like _you_ doing in a team like _this_? Why not join us? When we –" Karasuma smirked as he tipped her chin up so her silvery-blue eyes were staring up into his pitch-black ones, "can make use your 'abilities' so much _more_?"

For the first time in her life, Shiro could _feel_ the inner stirrings of distress tightening in her gut and the bile rising to her throat at the perverse, sadistic intent on the Kamakura vice-captain's face. She tried wriggling free from the other teen's iron-tight grip and winced when the much bigger hand around hers clenched down even _harder_ on her wrist. Normally, she'd try to negotiate out of the situation, but it was as if something _triggered_ in her head that unintentionally activated her 'fight-or-flight response' and made her completely torn between kicking the vice-captain in the balls or taking cover behind someone else. She didn't like to resort to _panicking_ but there was a figurative monster right in front of her and she admitted that every single ounce of any self-preserving instinct she had left switched on the second she felt her wrist start to throb uncomfortably in his grip.

 _Calm down. Relax. I have been personally trained in self-defense for situations like this. I can –_

Shiro gave a sharp intake of breath as she felt cold fingers skimming underneath her shirt and running along her sides, brushing curiously over the base of her spine – and it was _not_ an over-exaggeration when she actually _shuddered_ at the multiple unpleasant tingles shooting up her spine at his warm breath tingling behind her ear.

" _Oh_ ," Karasuma smirked, obviously enjoying Shiro's discomfort way too much to be healthy, "A sensitive one, aren't you? Don't worry, I know just how to –"

" **Excuse me, but can you let Shirocchi go**?" a certain blonde growled darkly before using more than enough force necessary to _wrench_ Shiro away from the Kamakura point guard – much to the grateful relief of the rest of the team. Kise immediately pulled the slightly trembling Shiro into a protective hug which the white-haired girl happily returned. The blonde could feel rage welling up behind his eyes when the white-haired girl immediately latched onto him and started breathing erratically against his neck.

Kise gave the ever-so cheerful Karasuma bloodthirsty scowl.

 _How dare you…How_ dare _you_ touch _Shirocchi...!_

"Whoa~ scary boyfriend you have right there, Shiro- _chan_!" Karasuma whistled, his smile growing even _wider_ on his face, revealing his shark-like canines. It practically _screamed_ from his expression alone that he _reveled_ in the murderous looks being thrown at him by every single Kaijou High member present, _especially_ the other regulars – who were all trailing behind Kise and looking like they were about to commit mass murder and _enjoy every second of it_.

"Well then~ I'll take my leave for now~" Karasuma sang to Kise, who glared at the dark-haired vice-captain with such so much _hatred_ that the Kaijou players all flinched at the sight.

"And I'll see _you_ later, Shiro- _chan_ ," Karasuma added merrily, giving a final wave before casually walking back to the other side of the court, where the Kamakura High captain could be seen leering infuriatingly at the pissed-off Kaijou team.

Instantly after the Kamakura High point guard left, Kise immediately returned his attention back to the white-haired author in his arms. Her shaking and erratic breathing had stopped, but the blonde still felt a bit worried and _frightened_ by this open display of fear-induced affection from his friend. Even when they watched horror movies together, the blonde had _never_ seen Shiro show even the tiniest bit of terror or panic like most of the girls he brought to watch horror movies did. They were always shivering by the end of the night and trying to cuddle up to the blonde-haired model.

So seeing that same yet different kind of fear being inflicted on his Shirocchi really did a number on the copycat's mood.

Wait, _his_ Shirocchi? No, he didn't mean it like that –!

"Shirocchi, are you feeling better now?" Kise asked carefully, encouraging many of the other Kaijou players to voice out their own concerns and a few even walking over to give their manager comforting pats on her shoulder.

Shiro nodded numbly and hesitantly broke away from the blonde model's embrace, though she still was still holding onto the hem of his jersey. The Kaijou High basketball members all felt arrows of guilt hit them like trucks at the sudden paleness of their manager's face and the tenseness in her eyes. It didn't look like she was crying but she didn't _need_ to, as what they saw renewed the anger within them like a fiery inferno.

"I…I apologize for not being able to get away fast enough. I'm not used to these kinds of situations," Shiro said shakily, squeezing Kise's arm as a ' _thank you_ '.

"It's not your fault, sensei," Kobori told her reassuringly, giving one of his customary pats on the head even if it looked somewhat forced. Which was pretty understandable, considering that the normally calm center was positively _boiling_ with rage at what that Kamakura vice-captain did and he'd like nothing else better than to _strangle_ the living shit out of him for even _touching_ their manager.

"Don't worry, Hime, we'll avenge you," Moriyama promised sincerely, with no trace of the sparkly flamboyancy aura he usually had around him when he said this kind of shit. In fact, his eyes were still laced with steely anger that looked extremely off-putting on the flirty shooting guard.

"HAI! SO P[LEASE] DON'T W[ORRY], MANA[GER]-SAN!" Hayakawa grinned tensely, giving the smaller girl a firm pat on the back, "[We'll] definit[ely] b[ring] home victory today!"

Shiro turned up to look at the regulars of the Kaijou High Basketball Team and nodded shakily, something that resembled a worried sob hitching in her throat.

"Y-Yes. Thank you for your words, senpais."

Kise frowned disapprovingly at the white-haired girl – who was still unconsciously clinging onto him – knowing _damn well_ she was not fine at all and was simply concealing her emotions like the trained model she was. It was the one of the few traits about her that irritated Kise to no end – even though he was probably guiltier of it than she was.

"O-Oi Shiro," Kasamatsu called out. There was an embarrassed scowl prominent on his harsh-looking face.

"Y-You got anything to say before we start?" he asked tentatively, giving his manager's shoulder a light squeeze. Oh _god_ how he hated the way everybody's eyes immediately zeroed in on his trembling hand. Even Moriyama and Kobori briefly broke out of their angry reverie to chuckle at the sight.

"You could _not_ get any less awkward, Captain," Nakamura deadpanned, not looking half as exasperated as he normally would be with his captain's irrational fear of talking to girls.

"At least he's improving," Kobori sighed.

"Today is the day for the books if Kasamatsu is talking to Hime out of his own initiation and not passing out like he just confessed to her instead," Moriyama added with a sigh.

"Whoa! Captain didn't faint [like] [last] time!" Hayakawa genuinely congratulated his senpai. Though that probably had a counterproductive effect as an angry vein started to twitch on Kasamatsu's temple at the enthusiastic rebounder's 'praise'. It also didn't help that even some other reserve players were looking as if they were trying not to bust a gut holding back their laughter at their captain's demise.

"You guys are bastards. All of you," Kasamatsu scolded his giggling teammates.

After they still wouldn't shut up, the Kaijou High Captain gave an annoyed growl and stomped his foot in annoyance.

"ANYONE WHO KEEPS ON LAUGHING CAN LAUGH IT OFF WITH 100 LAPS AROUND THE SCHOOL AFTER THIS MATCH!"

That _immediately_ shut them up. As much as they wanted to tease their captain more for his absolutely adorkable 'trying-his-best' moments, 100 laps around the school might actually kill them, seriously.

(At that point, Coach Takeuchi briefly wondered whether his Captain had picked up some troublesome habits from Seirin's fearsome lady coach.)

Kasamatsu – after recovering his already crippling dignity, returned his attention back to Shiro and cleared his throat loudly, awaiting her answer.

"S-So Shiro…anything to –" Kasamatsu choked on his words.

Because when Shiro gave him such a bright, glowing smile that could've knocked out a giant from shock, he couldn't help but blush like an idiot while trying to appear way more interested in his feet than his heart that was racing at Mach 20 speed.

"Yes," Shiro proclaimed calmly, eyes cast around her team with determination, "I do."

* * *

" _Let's show them why Kaijou holds the title of Champions of the Kanagawa Prefecture._ "

* * *

"Trap set, Captain~!"

Kamakura High's Captain, Mochizuki Haruka, gave his vice-captain an approving smirk, "Nice work, Yuu. As 'pected of our team's most jacked up 'motional manipulator."

"Pfft, it was fucking simple. Have you _seen_ how they act around her?" Karasuma threw a disdainful glance towards the Kaijou bench, "like fucking insects. The lot of them. All sucking up to her like a goddamn queen. It's _sickening_."

"Well, she's da only gal there, with ain't surprising," Mochizuki clicked his tongue, "so was mah analysis right?"

Karasuma smirked at his Captain. "Right on the fucking dot, Capt. She's the typical manager who likes to be all 'independent' and shit and too stubborn to take precaution and let her team properly take care of the situation for her. After my little show, she's gonna be putty in my hands once I'm done with her."

"Ahh Yuu, this is why I picked ya ta be mah vice-capt instead of anyone else," Mochizuki eyes shone with glee.

The slasher smiles both Captain and Vice-Captain shared on their faces were frightening enough to silently tell the Kamakura High team not to do or say something to break the moment of orgasmic satisfactory between them. Except for one.

"No offence, Karasuma-senpai, but how is riling them up supposed to help us win?" one of the reserve players asked bluntly.

Karasuma's eyes flashed dangerously at the reserve, his fake smile still present as he violently backhanded the unaware player across the face. The teen gave an agonized yell as he was thrown back into the bench, clutching onto his bruised cheek.

" _Who told you to speak_?" Karasuma hissed darkly, switching back to his native English language as the injured reserve whimpered under his withering glare. It was no secret amongst the Kamakura High Basketball Club that Karasuma Yuuto liked putting up a cheerful, all-smiling mask around strangers and those who he needed something from. But to his team…you might as well quit as you can. You're not going to have a reasonable person as your vice-captain; you're going to have a control freak with the tendency to be extremely violent to anyone who does so much as sneeze in his presence.

"Jeez Yuu, calm yer head," Mochizuki lazily admonished him, before giving the scared reserve player a feral smirk.

"You'll see why Kamakura High has such a dirty reputation for using 'off court psychological tactics' soon, kid."

* * *

Despite what his manager said, Coach Takeuchi couldn't help feel a sense of unease as he watched the Kaijou regulars head towards the tip-off line.

It was as if the motivational pep talk Shiro gave barely seconds ago went _completely_ over their heads the minute they saw who they were playing against. Two who were – as expected – their number 4 and center Mochizuki and number 5 and point guard Karasuma. The tension between the two teams was unbearably thick with the Kaijou players all looking ready to go on a killing spree.

"Looks like y'all calmed down," the Kamakura High captain winked at Kasamatsu, "so how did'ya pretty lil manager relieve your stress this time? Promising y'all a quickie after da game?"

" _Don't talk about Shirocchi like_ –" Kise snarled until a firm hand clamped down on his shoulder. The blonde's golden-yellow eyes instantly darted to Kasamatsu, who was giving him a severe look and mentally telling him to _sit your ass down and don't make it so obvious that they're getting to you_ , _dumbass_.

"You want to talk so much, do it after the game," Kasamatsu steadfastly answered. Kise definitely did not miss the hardened expression on his senpai's face as he said this.

"After we trash you, of course," Moriyama piped up with an emotionless smile.

"No hard feelings," Kobori called out lamely.

They proved their point soon enough. As the referee tossed the ball in the air, Kobori went for a graceful swoop and _bitch slapped_ it away from the stunned Kamakura High captain. Everyone watched in bated breath as it sailed through the court into an awaiting Hayakawa's hands. With an earthshaking roar, Hayakawa leapt into the air and _slam dunked_ the ball into the hoop. A cheer went up from the benches as the score quickly went from **0 – 2** in five seconds.

"[AAAARGGGGH!] DID YOU SEE THAT? THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T MESS WITH US, DAMMIT!"

Mochizuki's smile faltered very briefly as the entire Kaijou team gave him smug looks.

" _Prepare for a world of pain, Kamakura High_."

* * *

 _Wow_.

The very second the match started, Shiro's breath was stolen away in a flash.

It was if completely different people had taken over the Kaijou regulars. Shiro watched as Yukio-senpai drove in between the opponents' defenses with speed that could put Usain Bolt's to shame. Completed with Yoshitaka-senpai's unique three-pointers, Mitsuhiro-senpai's enthusiastic rebounds and Kouji-senpai's tenacity and defending prowess, their team play looked like a well-oiled machine and _acted_ like one.

And _Ryouta._

Ryouta was just...mesmerizing. Beautiful. _Spectacular._

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Or…that's what he _should've_ been like.

Shiro couldn't help but share the same worried look as Coach Takeuchi and Shinya-senpai when Ryouta was being double-teamed in every single way possible by the captain and vice-captain duo. Or how he had this absolutely _frustrated_ look on his face on the occasion where he _did_ receive an opportunity to score a point, only to be quickly pressured by at least two players from Kamakura High. And even when he _did_ shoot, the ball was either stolen from him before he could do so or he _missed completely_. Shiro had a horrible, twisting feeling in her gut.

Was it just her, or was Kise being horribly… _distracted_?

"Oi Kise! Watch your surroundings more!" Yukio-senpai yelled at the blonde, who only returned with a disgruntled 'Hai, senpai' before running back to defense.

The score was **15 – 18** , in Kaijou's favor. And according to Coach Takeuchi – considering that Kaijou doubled Kamakura High's score during Interhigh – this was one of the worst matches Kaijou had ever played against Kamakura High. The only thing that was keeping Kaijou in the lead was Moriyama's three-pointers.

"Maybe we should switch out Ryouta," Shiro suggested, only to be met with firm shakes of the head from the coach.

"It's not just Kise, take a look at the other players' physical conditions," Coach Takeuchi said, prompting the white-haired manager to briefly scan the Kaijou players' bodies. And then it hit her. She didn't really notice it until now, but she was sure that it was _way_ too unnatural to _sweat_ this much during the _first quarter_.

"The anger is getting to their heads. They're playing more aggressively than usual," Coach Takeuchi continued, an irritated look on his chubby face before standing up to call for a time-out.

Shiro couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of guilt hit her at the fact that they were probably angry because of _her_. Normally anger wouldn't affect a person's energy levels on a day-to-day basis, but being angry while playing a match or game could make their energy levels _plummet_ extremely quickly, since more energy was needed to cope with their anger. She clenched her fists and glanced at the Kamakura High point guard, who simply _smirked_ at her when he caught her looking at him.

 _This must've been their plan_ , Shiro thought with a frown. But at the same time, she felt that this was _not_ their entire plan. She could tell from their actions, especially from Karasuma's and Mochizuki's – that this was not _all_ they had to offer. And that unsettled her.

"Shiro-san," Shinya-senpai smoothly cut into her thoughts.

Shiro blinked owlishly at her senpai, unaware that she had been staring at him with the most disconcerting expression on her face for the past five minutes.

"Yes, Shinya-senpai? Is anything wrong?"

 _No, but it looks like there's something clearly wrong with you,_ Shiro had a feeling that was what he wanted to say.

"It's not your fault," Shinya-senpai told her instead, surprising her. Shiro could only stay silent as he scooched closer to her.

Shiro's normally neutral expression faltered slightly, tiny shadows forming under her eyes.

"But it _is_ completely my fault, Shinya-senpai. They're angry because I couldn't get away fast enough from Karasuma-senpai," the white-haired girl looked down in guilt, her chest heaving erratically at the memory, "I made our team lose face…"

 _No, it's not Shiro-san. I don't actually know how you manage to think that we're all angry because you didn't manage to get away from a piece of shit who takes joy in fucking with other teams' managers – literally and figuratively. And I don't know why you're grabbing onto the concept of 'barely avoiding molestation' as the equivalent of 'social disgrace' and I'm assuming that you're reading one too many American rape survivor novels,_ Shinya-senpai pressed the bridge of his nose with his fingers, feeling the signals of an incoming headache; _Oh my god, my team is full of idiots._

"You're only get them all angrier if they see you depressed like this," Shinya-senpai continued exasperatedly, hand raised to lightly brush a loose strand of white hair over her ear. The white-haired girl briefly shut her eyes in contentment at the ghost-like touches of the bespectacled teen's fingers on her face.

"Chin up, Shiro-san. Right now, you're the only one who can break those idiots out of it," Shinya-senpai said in the softest, most consoling tone Shiro had ever heard the second year shooting guard use. Shiro couldn't help but stare at him in mild amazement.

"Shinya-senpai, ever considered a change of job scope and become a psychiatrist?" Shiro asked, her trademark neutral expression returning to her features.

"No," Shinya-senpai answered, equally neutral, "I'd rather not have to deal with infuriatingly complicated people like you on a daily basis, Shiro-san."

Shiro nodded, as if that kind of response was completely normal and not at all insulting.

"I agree. I might throw in the towel if I was on my own patient," Shiro replied off-handedly, "though I might throw it even quicker if someone like Shinya-senpai was my patient. Imagine trying to counsel someone who tries to counsel you back."

"Are you picking a fight with me, Shiro-san?" Shinya-senpai asked her dryly, unconsciously passing his manager the cooling towels and ice box just as the rest of the Kaijou regulars jogged over, panting and sweating.

"Only if you perceive it as it is, senpai," Shiro answered mysteriously as she stood up from her seat to make space for the players.

"Thanks," the Kaijou starters chorused in unison as they all flopped down on the bench, gratefully accepting the towels and water bottles from their manager as their coach started his lecture.

"Look, all of you are too aggressive. Loosen up! It's just the first quarter!" Coach Takeuchi barked. Ryouta looked away in shame at that, barely acknowledging his white-haired friend when she lay the cold towel around his shoulders and dropped the water bottle into his hands. Shiro furrowed her eyebrows at this. How very un-Ryouta.

"Kise," the Kaijou Coach snapped his head towards their Ace, "I'm subbing you out for Nakamura. I'll put you back out in the second quarter once you've calmed your head."

Everyone expected a shout of protest or an angry outburst from the blonde model, but were bewildered to see him simply nod in acceptance, his expression concealed completely by his long bangs.

"Start going on the offense and focus on scoring. Now that Kise is out, they'll have to change marks. Otherwise, play as per normal," Coach Takeuchi nodded towards Yukio-senpai, who lead the motivational shout of 'Kaijou!' as the playing regulars all returned to the game, Shiro giving a brief smile to Shinya-senpai as he went to sub in for Ryouta.

This gave the white-haired manager the time and opportunity to walk over to her friend, who had been completely immovable since he sat down on the bench. The moisture of the towel had soaked into the blonde model's jersey, the water bottle still dangling from his fingertips.

"Ryouta," Shiro whispered softly, moving in behind him to wrap her arms around his neck, her chin on top of his hair. This seemed to calm Ryouta down somehow as he gradually relaxed in the white-haired author's embrace.

"Shirocchi…" Ryouta murmured, tilting his head back to rest against the white-haired manager's chest. Shiro sighed deeply at the ticklish sensation of Ryouta's hair on her hoodie.

"Feeling better?" she asked gently, brushing the bangs away from the blonde's face.

Ryouta shook his head indignantly, his lips forming into a frustrated frown.

Shiro frowned back before giving him a quick flick on the forehead, resulting in a pained 'Ow!' from the blonde copycat as he blinked quickly, crocodile tears forming in his eyes.

"Ryouta, you're a model, frowning will give you wrinkles," Shiro emotionlessly advised him, "at least frown a little bit cooler if you have to do it."

"How mean, Shirocchi! And I'm having a bad game too ~suu!" Ryouta pouted in mock anger. His hands had made his way up towards hers around his neck, tugging on her wrists insistently, "and you're choking me, Shirocchi!"

Shiro sighed, her silvery blue eyes meeting his golden-yellow ones as she released him from her chokehold.

"Are you feeling better now?" she asked, smiling fondly. Ryouta blinked at the sudden, uncharacteristic expression on the white-haired girl's face that felt so surreal that he almost forgot to breathe.

Ryouta pursed his lips but nodded, craning his head downwards so she couldn't see that he was blushing all the way to his roots. Thankfully, she couldn't tell the difference between a flush from a blush either way. Yes, she was blind like that.

"…I'll make your favorite French onion gratin soup tonight if you calm down and play your best," Shiro whispered discreetly into the blonde's hair.

"R-Really ~suu!?" Ryouta's eyes sparkled at the thought of the white-haired girl cooking one of his favorite meals for him. It was if a mood switch had flipped inside the blonde's head as he swerved his head (which was already sprouting puppy ears) towards Coach Takeuchi.

"Coach! Can you put me in? I'm ready to go now!" Ryouta pleaded, puppy ears twitching.

 _Sugoi…the power of food has awakened him…_ the Kaijou players all sweatdropped as a freaking _tail_ started wagging behind their Ace. _So cock-whipped…_

"Second quarter," Coach Takeuchi said with finality, causing the blonde's fake puppy ears to droop.

"Okay…" Ryouta pouted.

Shiro never had such hard time trying to muffle her chuckles so much in her life.

* * *

With Nakamura replacing Kise in the first quarter, the score gap between Kaijou and Kamakura High had very slowly started to increase. Since Nakamura had been in the team much longer than the blonde, he was more accustomed to Kaijou's team plays and even managed to give their opponents a bit of stress with his Seiho-worthy level of defense alongside Kobori. It also helped that Nakamura definitely had the 'psychiatrist' aura to him because the second he stepped into the court, the rest of the Kaijou starters had significantly cooled down. By the end of the first quarter, the score was **16 – 27** , in Kaijou's favor, and Shiro _literally would not sit her ass back down_ no matter what and had almost strangled Kise when Hayakawa made a buzzer beater, ending the first quarter off with a literal 'bang'.

("Shirocchi…I'm choking...!" Kise cried, face turning blue as several reserve players tried to convince their manager to _chill the fuck out_ before she gave their Ace cardiac arrest. )

After a short timeout in between quarters, Coach Takeuchi officially allowed Kise to play. The blonde literally could not be happier to be back on court. Mainly because he was getting a bit itchy from not playing and partially because Shiro was becoming the literal definition of a 'clingy girl friend'. Note the space between 'girl' and 'friend', people.

And with Kise back in the game, much calmer than he'd initially been, there was no contest. Even with Kamakura High's captain and vice-captain double team, Kise brushed them off without much issue and dribbled down the court like a madman, actively competing with Hayakawa on how many dunks they could pull off in a single quarter. Shiro couldn't help snatching out the notepad she had sitting inside her panda motif sling bag and scribbling down notes and the emotions she was feeling while watching the game play out. Along with Nakamura's sidelong commentary and comments on how Shiro's handwriting looked like chicken scratch, the second quarter ended with Shiro _shaking_ with awe and jubilation. Which looked extremely unsettling considering Shiro's face still looked completely calm and neutral and at one point Coach Takeuchi asked whether she was having a seizure.

(She wasn't. Though the semi-panicked looks on both Karasuma and Mochizuki's faces as they saw the score gap increasing definitely made Shiro internally smirk.)

The second quarter eventually ended with the score at **20 – 47** , in favor of Kaijou. The difference in points was so obvious that the Kaijou team couldn't help but proudly smirk at the fact. Eventually they went into half-time, Shiro deciding to buy Kise and the rest of the hardworking regulars their favorite drinks from the nearby vending machine. Until she remembered that she still had the honey-soaked lemons from that morning.

 _Ah, the honey-soaked lemons…_

Shiro stared down at the container in her hands. The ice had melted a little, but the container was still reasonably cold. However, she wouldn't be able to run into the locker room, pass the regulars the container, run out of the gym to buy the drinks and make it back in time for the third quarter.

"Hmm…" she spotted one of the reserves walking past her and head towards the changing room for the coach's brief pep talk. He was a lithely-built shooting guard in training and constantly looked like he badly needed the toilet whenever he was around her.

"Takuma-kun!" she called out, making said boy jump a foot and comically spin towards her with a dark blush on his cheeks.

"H-Hai…Manager-san? W-What can I help you with?" the dark-haired boy stuttered.

Shiro passed him the lidded container filled with honey-soaked lemons. "Will you pass this to the team for me? I'm going out to buy some drinks."

"O-Of course!" Takuma said, until he suddenly recalled their manager's encounter with the rather unpleasant vice-captain of the Kamakura High Basketball Team, and his eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"M-Manager-san…do you need me to accompany you?" he asked concernedly.

Shiro looked at him as if he'd grown two heads. "Of course not, Takuma-kun. You still need to attend Coach's halftime briefing."

"B-But…"

Unfortunately, Shiro had left the stuttering boy in the dust and was already jogging out of the gym, her bag slung lopsidedly over her shoulder. Takuma sweatdropped. Their manager sure didn't waste time…

Takuma's eyes darted down to the container of honey-soaked lemons and unconsciously licked his lips.

 _Maybe I'll take one while nobody's looking…_ Takuma mirrored Coach Takeuchi's earlier thoughts as he made his way to the Kaijou changing rooms, not noticing that Kamakura High's starting lineup suddenly had two missing members.

(If Shiro missed the shark-like grins from a particular captain and vice-captain duo as she made her way out of the gym, she would learn very soon that she would have to reap the consequences of her negligence.)

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Do~ Not~ Own~ KnB~ ~suu.

Also, I think I insulted so many Osakans and English people with this chapter (refer to Karasuma and Mochizuki above). And I have this weird fascination with Hayakawa dunking (I am seriously not sure if he can do that but he's such a ball of sugar that he probably could if he tried). Also, sorry if I'm focusing a lot on Nakamura, but I'm a sucker for meganes and this fic gave me the oppurtunity to expand on his characterizaton. And...Kise too OC here? My bad? And I realize I have a tendency to change tenses in between chapters. I'M SORRY. THIS IS A HABIT OF MINE THAT I HONESTLY CAN'T KICK AS I LIKE WRITING CHAPTERS IN PAST AND PRESENT TENSE.

A huge thank you to my reviewers **m00nbunnie,** a Guest user, Kurokocchi, **ILoveNarutoRebornKProject** and **lotusalchemist**. And to answer **nglphil** 's question: _I'm not too sure where the tactic came from, I was researching on psychological tactics on the Net one day and came by it. And yes, Haizaki + Imayoshi + Hanamiya fuck me I'm in love with these three._


	6. Chapter V

**KAIJOU'S SHIRO**

Chapter V

* * *

 _Ch~ing_!

Shiro rolled in another 100 yen coin into the vending machine coin slot and contemplated what drink to get for Ryouta. She'd already decided on the typical sportsman drink Pocari Sweat for Kasamatsu. Moriyama fruit juice because she always saw him as a 'fruity' kind of guy. Kobori Oi Ocha because he reminded Shiro of an old man. Hayakawa Fanta Orange – which was a minor miscalculation on her part as she thought that maybe giving their enthusiastic rebounder more sugar than reasonably needed was _not_ a good idea – and also not appreciated. Nakamura ice black coffee since he always complained that 'it's too early to deal with all of your (Kaijou regulars) shit' accompanied with, 'I need coffee right now. I can't handle this' when his teammates were _really_ going overboard with their eccentricities – which basically happened _every single day_ without fail.

(Somewhere in the locker room, Nakamura wheezed loudly, attracting many concerned looks and stares from his teammates. He suddenly felt the deepest urge to pinch a certain white-haired manager on the cheek – and give her a lecture on why she should not act like a snarky little shit to her token megane senpai, even in her thoughts.)

 _Hmm…sparkling water then…Ryouta always reminded me of a sparkly vampire anyway…_

Just as she was about to collect her drink, she heard two pairs of footsteps coming behind her. Assuming that it was probably one of the players, she continued on her way and picked up the bottle of sparkling water from the drop-out port before dropping it into her bag. With a pleased hum, she was about to turn and leave when two figures entered her vision.

(Honestly, she should've checked.)

Shiro felt a gasp escape her before she could even process it as someone grabbed the back of her hair and _slammed_ her head against the vending machine. She choked back a cry as she felt her wrists being gripped viciously and pinned over her head. She did her best not to whimper in agony at the prickling pain on the base of her neck.

"Fancy meeting you here, Shiro- _chan_."

Shiro's eyes shot open, the bile returning to her gut as she was met face-to face with the murderous-looking Karasuma Yuuto. In all of his handsome, petrifying glory. His eyes were flashing in barely restrained anger and his lips had formed a merciless smile. This time, she could feel his cold breath against her ear and his lips too close to hers for comfort. Tiny tears appeared in the corner of her eyes as he yanked at her hair sharply.

"Aw, Shiro- _chan_ , don't be scared," Karasuma said in mock hurt. The handsome brunette did not miss the flash of anxiety in his target's eyes at the sudden invasion of her personal space. Karasuma couldn't help not restrain the perverse thrill he always had when he did this sort of thing.

 _There's nothing more fun than playing with a cornered animal, after all._

"What do you want…" she bit out, wincing a little as she felt his canines bite harshly onto the lobe of her ear.

Shiro felt him smile, and she couldn't do much but _squirm_ at the many unpleasant shudders she felt at his closeness.

"To break you, of course," he purred, forcefully grabbing her chin so she could look in his partner's direction. The Kamakura Captain was giving her one of the most unsettling smirks she had ever seen and was for some reason, holding a video camera. There was a shudder of repulse when the white-haired manager saw him lick his lips, like he was a starving beast and she was his last meal.

"Excuse me, will you let me–!"

Shiro's pleads were silenced when a pair of cold lips quickly descended on hers. She gasped when she felt Karasuma's tongue force its way into her mouth, immediately enforcing his dominance on her as his other hand crawled its way up to her thigh, caressing her skin with shameless fascination.

 _No no no this is not impossible he can't be –_

The white-haired author couldn't help but moan into the hard kiss as she squirmed in his grasp, highly aware of the other Kamakura High player walking over and very lightly stroking the side of her warm, flushed face.

"Dun forget me, little chick," Mochizuki whispered gently, his tone laced with something that made the younger girl recoil as his other hand slowly lifted up her shirt, exposing the smooth expanse of her pale-white stomach. Mochizuki could barely repress another lick of his lips at the tiny shiver the girl's slender body produced when the cold air hit her skin.

"If yer this sensitive, maybe we don't have ta give you _this_."

Shiro felt a stab of horror as her eyes caught a small, little syringe tucked inside the captain's jacket pocket. Mochizuki chuckled humorlessly as his fingers dug slightly onto her skin, tearing her away from his vice-captain and brutally slamming his lips onto hers. Karasuma gave an annoyed 'Tsk' and started littering vicious little bruises along the nape of her neck, his other hand forcefully clamping down on her thigh – eliciting a breathy mewl from Shiro's lips.

"Let me go…" Shiro pleaded against him, not able to stop the flow of desperate tears descending down her cheeks.

 _I don't want this…! P-Please stop touching me, I don't want you to –_

"Shh…'s okay, little chick," Mochizuki whispered against her lips, a dark smirk forming on his lips.

* * *

" _You'll be enjoying this so much you won't even want us to stop_."

* * *

"– that's all. Give your best for these last two quarters so we can make it clear to them why we are number one in Kanagawa," Coach Takeuchi finished off the briefing, "for now, you can all do whatever you have to do for the remaining of halftime."

An energetic ' _whoop_ ' went up the Kaijou Basketball Team as Kise sat back-to-back against Kasamatsu on the bench – which elicited an annoyed 'Oi' from the captain, though he too was completely exhausted and didn't really mind the extra back support.

"I feel so good ~suu…!" Kise said with a dopey smile, recalling the awe-stricken look on Shiro's face as she watched him play. He felt like a goddamn _god_ for the entire second quarter when he occasionally glanced at the benches – only to see the white-haired author jot down notes almost blindly like her life depended on it. It was a little quirk of hers that Kise liked to see because that clearly showed that she was enjoying what she was watching. It was like that one time Kise treated her to her first expensive French meal.

(She was writing notes about how the dishes looked and trying to figure out the ingredients for a good twenty minutes.)

(The excitement was extremely short-lived. You don't have a famous model and author enter a restaurant and _not_ expect to have a lobby and dining room being _bombarded_ with hysterical fans.)

It felt really _nice_ somehow. She had the same look he used to have back when he watched Aomine play basketball for the first time.

"Baka, the game isn't over yet," Kasamatsu scolded, without his usual bite.

"I agree with Kise though, I feel pretty good," Kobori said with a soft smile.

"Same," Nakamura added quietly.

"[URAAAHHH]! I F[EEL] SO PUMPED OUT NOW! YOOOOSHHH!" Hayakawa yelled, slapping his face in happiness.

"Did you see Hime watching me?" Moriyama's eyes sparkled with renewed fervor, "I scored twenty-one points for her today~!"

"She was watching all of us, Moriyama," Kasamatsu said with an exasperated smile, stretching his leg out so he could tie his laces.

"Mana[ger]-san didn't ch[eer] for us, but you could definit[ely] see that she was s[upper] happy!" Hayakawa added with a huge, peppy-like smile on his face.

"Her way of expressing happiness is strange though," Kasamatsu said as an afterthought. The Kaijou captain gave a grunt as he nudged their Ace to give him some room, which the latter happily obliged.

"Kise, have you ever seen Hime that happy before?" Moriyama asked, who had Hayakawa giving him an enthusiastic back massage.

(Oh Hayakawa, you cute lil shit.)

The blonde copycat gulped as he recalled those special, happy moments the two of them shared together – which he _definitely_ didn't want to tell his team. Mostly because they were something called – oh I don't freaking know – _special_ and that most of those moments contained him being half-nude and Shiro being dressed in a huge shirt and sometimes nothing else.

"Once or twice ~suu."

Kobori hummed in curiosity. "Speaking of sensei, where is she?"

From the corner of Kis'es eyes, he saw a dark-haired boy jump and rummage into his bag for something. Kise's eyes widened slightly when he took out a familiar-looking container and started running towards them.

"A-Ano…!"

The Kaijou regulars all looked a little surprised when their reserve Takuma thrust a container of honey-soaked lemons to them. _Shiro_ 's honey-soaked lemons.

"M-Manager-san wanted me to give you this…" the admittedly adorable reserve stuttered, a high blush rising to his cheeks.

They were all stunned. Nakamura was the first one to break the silence as he rose up from beside Kobori and took the container from Takuma's hands. Nobody failed to notice the little look of concern that crossed their token megane's eyes as he accepted the cold treats.

"Thank you," Nakamura said uncertainly.

Kise wasn't going to have it though. Something was clearly amiss, and his team was definitely feeling it too.

"Where's Shirocchi ~suu?"

The bomb finally dropped.

"Umm…she said she went to buy drinks for everyone…" Takuma gulped slowly at all the stares upon him.

"Why didn't you go with her?" Kobori broke out of his calm demeanor as he demanded an answer out of the reserve.

"S-She told me to go f-for Coach's briefing –" Takuma stuttered in fear, the horrible implications of his inaction dawning on him.

This did not placate the currently frozen Kaijou team one bit.

Kasamatsu turned sharply to Hayakawa. "Check the gym."

The rebounder – knowing what their captain meant – quickly left massaging duty and sped out of the locker room. Everyone waited in bated breath for Hayakawa's return. His re-entry was none too pleasant.

"Captain…their captain and vice-captain a[ren't] th[ere]."

Kise's blood turned ice-cold hearing that.

 _It can't be a coincidence. I saw what their vice-captain did to Shirocchi…she…_

Kise's fingers gripped tightly on the edge of his varsity jacket, his heart thrumming madly in his chest.

 _Shirocchi…Shirocchi isn't in trouble…right?_

"Everyone! Snap fucking out of it! Get your ass moving and ** _find her_**!" Kasamatsu barked urgently, spurring everyone into action as the regulars quickly got off the benches and starting heading to the door. Nakamura's glasses had almost fallen off his face in a hurry, his eyes straining in worry at the prospect of something happening to his kouhai. Kobori looked visibly stressed as he was the first one to grab his jacket and make his way out of the gym alongside Hayakawa. Moriyama's face had frozen in absolute horror as he and a panicking Kasamatsu dragged a trembling Kise out of the gym. They barely acknowledged their Coach when they dashed past him and started shouting at each other to hurry up.

"She'll be okay, she'll be _fucking okay_!" Kasamatsu repeated over and over again, squeezing the blonde's arm in reassurance as they ran as fast they could to the nearest vending machine.

Kise couldn't help but think Kasamatsu was just saying that to reassure himself.

* * *

"Mmm…this looks beautiful…"

The sadistic vice-captain sneered as Mochizuki zoomed in closer to the white-haired manager's face, catching her in all of her dishevelled beauty.

"Where's your team when you need them, hmm?" Karasuma taunted, digging his nails painfully onto her wrists.

The two of them sneered sadistically when Shiro simply whimpered and tried to look away from the camera.

Ichijou Shiro was in no state that would've been called respectable. Normally impeccable white hair was tussled over her flushed face. Her silver-blue eyes glazed over in near defeat and saliva trailing down her lips. Her shirt was completely bunched up, revealing her entire upper body, including her fully exposed breasts. She was trembling so pathetically it ignited the hungry need within Karasuma to just cut the crap and ruin her already.

"For a little chick, you have pretty nice tits," Mochizuki commented lecherously, eyeing the white-haired girl's round, supple breasts, sadly contained by a constricting, pain white bra.

"Yeah, she looks better than some of the other girls," Karasuma purred, not-so-gently cupping one of Shiro's clothed breasts. The dark-haired teen smirked when the white-haired girl moaned softly and shivered at the harsh grope, "C-cup maybe? Maaan, I bet Kaijou has a _lot_ of fun sucking on these tits. Or maybe you let them fuck these nice tits of yours?"

Shiro gave a weak sound of protest as she kneed him away, shaking her head in defiance.

"Tch, still fighting huh?" Karasuma asked in annoyance, not very happy that the normally quiet manager just kicked him in the shin, "Say, Captain. We might need that little drug for this one."

 _D…Drug?_ Shiro flinched in apprehension.

The Kamakura vice-captain gave a little pitying sound as he stroked the side of her face, his vindictive smile wide and clear on his lips. Oh, he always _loved_ this part of their psychology play.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt at all Shiro- _chan_ ," Karasuma assured in fake sweetness.

Then he paused and tilted his head, as if contemplating something.

"Well, as long as you don't struggle, that is."

Mochizuki snorted as he took out the syringe from his pocket, not missing the wild look in the normally calm white-haired girl's eyes as she saw the glint of the syringe needle from far away.

"Get it away from me," Shiro spat out, regaining some strength as she started pushing against the overbearing Karasuma, who merely had to shove her back against the vending machine to placate her. He then forced her mouth open with his hands, making sure to apply pressure on her throat so she couldn't scream.

"There's no-one to save you now, Shiro- _chan_. I suggest you keep your pretty mouth shut and _be a good girl_ ," Karasuma threatened, slamming her wrists against the vending machine once more for good measure.

 _Yukio-senpai…_ Shiro whimpered, her mind going into hyper drive as she started kicking her perpetrator, her throat drying up as she did her best to scream despite the pain.

"Fuckin' hell, shut da bitch up for fuck's sake!" Mochizuki hissed, starting to prepare the drug.

"Just hurry the fuck up!" Karasuma growled in annoyance, not liking their target's sudden attempt at a frenzied struggle.

 _Yoshitaka-senpai…_

"Yea, yea…" Mochizuki rolled his eyes as he stepped closer to the frantic white-haired girl, whose eyes just widened fraction by fraction as the syringe needle came closer and closer to her, unable to stop her shaking as it neared towards her mouth.

 _Kouji-senpai…Mitsuhiro-senpai…Shinya-senpai please –!_

"Open wide, little chick ~"

 _R-Ryouta…!_

Just as the first tiny spurts of liquid dripped onto Shiro's tongue, a flying figure came out of nowhere and _collided_ into the unaware Kamakura Captain. Mochizuki gave a yell of pain as the syringe went flying and the white-haired girl could hear a camera lens shatter as it fell onto the ground.

"HOW **D[ARE]** YOU! HOW ** _D[ARE]_** YOU HURT MANA[GER]-SAN –!" Hayakawa roared, picking up the surprised Kamakura High captain by the collar. Shiro stiffened at the purely _furious_ look in her favorite power forward's eyes, face contorted in fury that he was practically _spitting_ at the other teen.

 _If Mitsuhiro-senpai is here, then –_

"Shiro!"

"Hime!"

"Sensei!"

"Shiro-san!"

" ** _SHIROCCHI!_** "

Shiro felt the restriction around her wrists being released as a familiar whizz of ash-blonde hair flew past her and _barreled_ into the violent dark-haired vice-captain, releasing her from his suffocating grip.

"Shinya-senpai…!" Shiro felt something get caught in her throat as she watched her normally stoic senpai _snarl_ at the person who hurt her. There was an odd, twisting feeling in her chest when she watched him _pummel_ the living shit out of Karasuma, whose brain finally kicked in on what was happening and for once, actually looked scared for his life. It looked immensely satisfying to see the normally handsome vice-captain bleeding from the nose and looking on the verge of tears.

"You piece of shit! _How_ **dare** _you lay a fucking hand on her! **"**_

Just as Nakamura was about to land another punch, Shiro's vision flicked suddenly and her body started to get unnaturally warm. She felt the last strands of consciousness leave her and it wasn't long before she lost her footing. Fortunately, she had landed safely onto the warm, broad chest of Kasamatsu Yukio, who immediately grabbed her by the arms and embraced her tightly into his chest, letting her head rest over his shoulder – for once, not even panicking _slightly_ at the close proximity between them. There were beads of sweat on the Kaijou's captain face because thank – fucking – _god_ his manager was okay!

"You're safe right now okay? _You're_ _safe_ …" Kasamatsu muttered soothingly, calloused hand reassuringly caressing her hair.

"Shirocchi, oh god, thank _god_ you're okay," Kise choked shakily, mimicking Kasamatsu's words as he leaned down to cup the smaller girl's face. His worried golden-yellow eyes widened at the dark bruises littering her skin and the streaks of tears down her warm cheeks. The Kaijou small forward couldn't help but shatter a bit inside at the state of one of his dearest friends.

She looked so… _weak_.

Shirocchi wasn't _weak_ …she never was…how could they –

"Sensei is heating up…she needs medical attention…" Kobori noted with visible concern as he gently took the white-haired girl away from Kasamatsu and lifted her up bridal-style in his arms. The fatherly center cradled her head against his neck and hoped nobody would notice that he was shaking a little while he was carrying her.

"I'm sorry Hime…we couldn't save you fast enough…" Moriyama muttered softly, pushing away his princess's sweaty bangs, eyebrows creased in worry hearing the shallow, quick pants escaping their manager's mouth, "I promise it won't happen again…"

 _Shirocchi…_ Kise clenched his fists in anger. _How could they do this to someone like her…she did…she did nothing wrong…!_

Meanwhile, Hayakawa and Nakamura were busy cleaning up with Mochizuki and Karasuma, both who looked thoroughly beaten up, bruised and very much fearful of their lives at that point. Hayakawa's and Nakamura's chests heaved in exhaustion, their eyes still flaring with the need to kill just by simply _looking_ at the two Kamakura High scumbags at their feet, tied up and shaking in terror.

While Hayakawa had given the Kamakura High some really _huge_ bruises and one really impressive black eye, Nakamura didn't seem to be ready to leave his task of beating the cowering vice-captain within an inch of his life. If it said anything, the rest of the Kaijou regulars could _feel_ the bloodlust reeking from his calmly furious facial expression.

"Nakamura, get the camera and the syringe," Kasamatsu ordered evenly, not taking his eyes off the Kamakura High duo, "before we have to explain to Coach why we need two body bags."

Despite his rage, Nakamura eventually relented and went to retrieve the items from the floor. With flawless dexterity, he tilted the camera with his fingertips, inspecting its current state. The video was most likely safe as evidence, and the contents of the syringe was still intact.

 _This drug…_ Nakamura's eyes narrowed at the liquid inside the syringe, _I need to test it_ …

"What are ya gunna do to us?" Mochizuki finally asked, gritting his teeth, eyes looking something akin to a cornered animal.

 _Oh, how ironic,_ Nakamura refrained from rolling his eyes, calming down considerably as he turned to look at his senpais, awaiting their decision. As much as he wanted to oh-so freaking _badly_ beat the shit out of the both of them with his bare hands, it was the third-years decision to decide how to deal with them.

(Hopefully it would be with more violence, Nakamura hoped.)

"Report you to the police," Kasamatsu answered coldly, "amongst other things."

Karasuma's eyes flashed in fear. At the prospect of _actually_ getting arrested or what Kasamatsu said after that, nobody knew.

"We still have a match after all," Kise broke in casually, his normally friendly and affable demeanor replaced with flawless calm. In fact, he looked the calmest his team had ever seen him be, with his bright golden eyes dulling into a bland yellow and the smile on his face resembling that of Hannibal Lector.

(In fact, Hannibal Lector would've been damn proud by the creep factor of Kise' smile.)

"If you can beat us, we won't report you to the police. Probably," Moriyama drawled uncaringly.

Nakamura's eyes widened at the third-year's suggestion, jaw dropping slightly in disbelief.

 _They're not going to let them off easy. They're going to give them hope, a chance to escape, when in all reality -_

While Hayakawa was giving his eager agreement, Nakamura had to slowly process the facial expressions of everyone present, to check whether they were all thinking on the same wavelength as him.

Kasamatsu had his arms folded firmly, looking as reassured as a Captain _should_ be. Moriyama was glaring coldly at the Kamakura High players, looking like he cared less whether they lived or died as long as he got what he wanted. Kobori, being one of the most rational out of all of them, looked completely stony-faced while he took care of the unconscious girl in his arms.

And _Kise_.

Nakamura's heart could've stopped just from _feeling_ the bloodlust their Ace was emitting.

He was not looking at famous blonde model and puppy-like idiot of the Kaijou High. He was not looking at the 'weakest' of the infamous Generation of Miracles, the skilled copycat with extraordinary visual capabilities. He was not even looking at the 'true' Kise Ryouta; the Kise Ryouta who only gave respect to those who impressed him and wouldn't even look your way as long as you were just a normal person.

He was looking at the Kise Ryouta who failed to protect the one person he was constantly denying his feelings for. The Kise Ryouta who felt like it was _his_ duty to be by her side and keep her from harm _at all costs_. The Kise Ryouta who _damn right_ was going to redeem his mistakes and make it up to her.

 ** _No matter what it took and how many people he needed to do it_** **.**

Nakamura felt a slight chill when he looked at the tied-up Kamakura High players, who had tiny sparks of hope in their formerly emotionless eyes.

* * *

 _"Cornered animals will often mount a final desperate attack. To prevent this, you let them believe they still have a chance for freedom."_

* * *

Kaijou High was the predator, and Kamakura High was their prey.

Kaijou was going to play the same, twisted game that _they_ liked to play, Nakamura thought.

A cruel, heartless smile entered the second-year shooting guard's features.

Well, that's what happens when you mess with their 'pack' after all.

(And unlike Kamakura High, Kaijou takes care of their own.)

* * *

They eventually returned to the gym, instantly being met with the bewildered and shell-shocked stares of the Kaijou High and Kamakura High team as they walked in with two freshly beaten-up Kamakura High players in tow.

However – in Kaijou's situation – their expressions quickly turned to ones of passionate fury when they saw the limp, unconscious form of their beloved manager in Kobori's arms. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together and figure out what happened.

Kasamatsu eventually struck up a deal with Kamakura High's Coach Heishi regarding the arrests of their captain and vice-captain. Despite Coach Heishi's initial refusal – seeing as it was practically _impossible_ for Kamakura High to win with their core players badly injured at that point – his refusal was ultimately rejected and then refuted when he was met with a few dozen murderous stares and a startlingly _evil_ one from Kaijou's Ace that almost made him want to piss himself.

Nakamura's assignment to take care of Shiro in the infirmary was met with no complaints, only mutual nods and offers for any form of assistance.

The second half of the practice match quickly resumed.

* * *

Kasamatsu likened the game to a one-sided slaughter, with Kise stealing a majority of the spotlight.

Their Ace _annihilated_ defenses like they were made out of paper. He _drove past_ the Kamakura High duo's double-team like they weren't even _there_. He _scored_ point after point like there was no tomorrow, all with the façade of absolute assuredness and confidence.

Kasamatsu watched looks of hopeless despair settle into the eyes of the Kamakura High players. He watched them sag in defeat as Kise copied their hard-earned plays and abilities with perfected ease. He watched as he disregarded every single one of them like they weren't even _worth_ looking at.

Kasamatsu hated that kind of thing. Crushing their opponents spirits into nothing. Making them hate something they loved with everything they had.

And then he looked at Mochizuki and Karasuma. The defeated looks on their faces as they watched the score gap between both teams become wider and wider, their tiny spark of hope gradually flying away from their reach.

But the Kaijou High Captain surprisingly felt nothing as he watched Kise destroy their hopes and spirits. He felt absolutely _no_ sympathy for _every single one of them._

 _Nothing._

Kamakura High gave no mercy to those who they hurt for their own personal gain. Thus, he would give _none_ to them.

Kasamatsu closed his eyes as he listened to the final buzzer, signifying the end of the practice match.

Kaijou had won with a score of **20 – 181**. It was one of their best games they ever had.

And Shiro wasn't there to see it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I don't own KnB.

I actually feel a bit disappointed in this chapter somehow. The first chapter that I did was much better (but OF COURSE I HAD TO ACCIDENTALLY DELETE IT). But either way, I hope you all enjoyed it because it took a lot out of me to write these kind of scenes considering I am seriously uncomfortable writing them and I'm more used to writing heartwarming scenes.

 **Question:** Do you guys want a depressing angsty scene in the next chapter or a fluffy one?


	7. Chapter VI

**KAIJOU'S SHIRO**

Chapter VI

* * *

 _"_ _You're nothing special."_

 _"_ _Just kill yourself already."_

 _"_ _Nobody cares about you."_

 _"_ _Look at her! She's all alone. Deserves it, that stupid bitch. Trying to act like she's better than us."_

 _"_ _Girls like you should just stay at home and be pretty."_

 _"_ _We don't need failures like you."_

 ** _"_** ** _There's no-one to save you now, Shiro-chan. I suggest you keep your pretty mouth shut and be a good girl."_**

* * *

Shiro keeps quiet, even in her dreams.

* * *

Shinya doesn't move an inch from where he's sitting. The ash-blonde teen has a chair pulled up next to the bed and his arms are tucked under his chin while he watches Shiro sleep. Yes, it sounds creepy and super stalkerish, but he really doesn't have much he can do at this point.

Her snowy-white skin is paler than usual, a stark contrast to the dark bruises littering her neck and stomach. She's had stitches on the back of her head, from the amount of abuse she took from Karasuma. It makes Shinya sick to the bone. To see all that blood at the beginning when the infirmary doctor Tsukasa-sensei inspects it and shows Shinya the blood coating her hair. Her head is wrapped in bandages, and it's regrettably not the only part of her body that is bandaged.

Shinya's eyes trail down to Shiro's bandaged wrists. Those slightly bony, beautiful wrists that were used to help Shiro write equally beautiful stories. He is _so thankful_ that they are just very bad sprains that aren't damaged enough to become fractures. His shoulders sag in gratefulness and at the same time stiffens because it is clear that those Kamakura lowlifes weren't just trying to break her _physically_.

"You're a troublesome kouhai, Shiro-san," escapes Shinya's mouth before he can stop himself.

Shiro doesn't answer. Her breathing is still shallow, and a light pink flush enters her cheeks.

 _Shit, she's not having an asthma attack or anything, right?_ Shinya racks his brains trying to remember whether Shiro has respiratory problems. From his mother, he knows that she doesn't have asthma, but it _could_ be, right? Was it _possible_ for asthma to develop at this stage –?

"She's not having an asthma attack or anything. Don't worry your pretty head, _Shinya-kun_ ," the smooth, melodic voice of the infirmary doctor Tsukasa-sensei breaks Shinya out of his panic. The ash-blonde teen can't help but grimace at how Tsukasa-sensei drawls out his name like a seductive moan.

Tsukasa Hikaru is the sole infirmary doctor of Kaijou High, with skills that could easily put him on par with any top-class doctor from any top-class hospital. He had been personally assigned to Kaijou for two good reasons: one – because the modelling agency as well as the publishing company really, _really_ does want anything to happen to their two 'poster children'. And two – finding out that both Kise _and_ Shiro have _actually_ been molested and taken advantage of by perverted doctors before really does give both companies a legitimate reason to be paranoid.

Tsukasa Hikaru is a 'professional' down to the very core, and is so _ridiculously_ handsome that there are times where straight men have to reconsider their sexualities after seeing him in the flesh. His white-blonde hair, gorgeous emerald-green eyes, and a body to die for – there was no mistaking it, he was that one doctor you _wanted_ to undress for.

And here's the kicker – Tsukasa Hikaru can't stand anyone who is more famous than him, is almost too gay to function, and is ** _only into meganes_**. Kise and Shiro pretty much fit the 'I-don't-want-to-bang' list before he even entered the damned school.

(Which is of course very unfortunate for someone as normal as Nakamura Shinya, who fit _all_ of Tsukasa-sensei's 'BANG NOW ASAP' preferences.)

"She's having a nightmare," Tsukasa-sensei presses the back of his hand over Shiro's forehead, and frowns, "running a slight fever. Otherwise, it's nothing dangerous. Did she ingest anything before coming here?"

Shinya is ready to say no, but pauses when he remembers the syringe filled with strange-looking liquid that he picked up as evidence. He wanted to test it, but since it had to be given over as evidence…

"It's a possibility, sensei," Shinya says, looking slightly contemplative.

Tsukasa-sensei raises a delicate eyebrow at this, but doesn't say anything else. However, a cheeky smirk does grace his lips as he pats Shinya on the head.

"Aww…you're adorable when you worry, Shinya-kun!" Tsukasa-sensei swoons, ruffling the teen's hair childishly.

"Please don't call me that, Tsukasa-sensei," Shinya tries to deadpan, but fails as he starts to get more flushed by the second when the admittedly _really fucking hot_ sensei bends down slightly to press a playful kiss on top of the younger male's head, smiling as if that is a totally, _totally_ fucking normal thing to do to your student.

 _Tsukasa-sensei…you have no boundaries!_ Shinya wants to complain in embarrassment.

"S-Sen…pai…?"

The two males snap their heads abruptly to the girl on the bed, and Shinya almost breaks down in relief when he sees Shiro's eyes fluttering open, and her cheeks filled with a healthy pink color.

"Shiro-san, how do you feel?" Shinya asks gently. He leaves his chair to sit down on the bed next to his manager, one arm carefully supporting her shivering back at the same time being mindful of her injuries.

"I-It's hot…" Shiro pants, the flush on her face darkening to worrying levels. Her silvery-blue eyes are glazed over and her breathing is erratic, tiny wisps of air escaping her mouth in shockingly quick intervals.

Shiro looks up at Shinya with a reddened face and teary eyes, lips parted in a questioning 'O'. The ash-blond teen stiffens and briefly shares a panicked look with Tsukasa-sensei – who looks reasonably confused by the white-haired teen's behavior.

"P-Please move…I need…" Shiro whines and drops her head on Shinya's shoulder. She's gripping onto his jersey in desperation and her heavy panting is quickly making the bespectacled teen a bit hot himself. Suddenly, she shifts a bit and pulls herself together so she's sprawled halfway on his lap, arms draped around his neck and her legs dangling over the edge of the bed.

"S-Shinya-s-senpai…" Shiro murmurs weakly, mouthing against the exposed skin between his neck and shoulder. The second-year freezes up entirely at this, and is seriously unsure where to put his hands right now.

(Tsukasa-sensei is _not_ helping matters either, if the angry/jealous expression on his face says anything.)

"H-Help me…" there's a pitiful sobbing coming from the white-haired manager, and Shinya is forced to break out of his frozen stupor to check up on the person who is two seconds away from straddling his lap and turning this situation into a _very_ questionable one.

Her arms wrap even tighter around his neck and she's breathing so heavily on his skin that he's afraid that he's going to get a stroke from the heat.

"T-Take it off…"

Shinya's throat turns dry.

"S-Senpai…please take my shirt off…. _please_ …?"

Shinya's glasses crack by a fraction.

"Mmmhh…h-haah… _Shinya-senpai_ …" Shiro moans his name so sweetly that it is _not possible_ for him not to start turning into stone right now, "T-Too many c-clothes…senpai…"

 _Is…Is she high?_

"Shiro-kun, I don't think you're feeling well right now, so how about you lay back d –" Tsukasa-sensei tries to placate Shiro, only to have his arms suddenly full of a overheated white-haired girl – who's changed targets and is mouthing hungrily at Tsukasa-sensei's throat.

"S-Sensei _…"_

Shinya – after cleaning up the saliva on his shoulder – watches in pure unadulterated horror as Shiro launches herself onto Mr. Sexy Doctor Fantasy's amazingly toned chest, her arms lazily draped over his shoulders and appearing to be _trying to give him a hickey_. There are absolutely no words to describe the petrified disgust on Tsukasa-sensei's face as he is _seriously_ trying to pry the suddenly clingy white-haired girl away from his person without resorting to violence.

"SHIRO-KUN. GET OFF ME," Tsukasa-sensei roars, his large hand on her kiss-hungry face and trying to push her as far as he could away from him.

" _Mm…doctor…will you take my shirt off for me pleeeeassse?_ " Shiro slurs in perfect English – and to Tsukasa-sensei's despair – resists his efforts and starts sloppily kissing the horrified infirmary doctor on his nicely toned chest and her hands are grabbing onto some _greatly inappropriate_ places that is making Tsukasa-sensei _screech_.

 _…_ _Now she's DRUNK?_

"SHINYA-KUN WILL YOU HELP – _SHIRO-KUN, YOUR HANDS ARE_ _ **NOT**_ _SUPPOSED TO BE TOUCHING THERE!"_

"S-Sensei…why are you so _hooot_?"

"That's because _YOU'RE HAVING A FUCKING FEVER and YOU'RE DROOLING ON ME NOW GET –_ _ **AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH**_!"

"Sensei…y-you're very well-endowed –"

" ** _UWWWWAAAAAAAAGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!_** "

 _This cannot possibly get any worse…_ Shinya deadpans in disbelief.

* * *

Famous. Last. Words.

* * *

None of them notice the door to the infirmary opening and four very familiar figures stepping inside.

"Nakamura-senpai, how's Shirocch –"

The four _very_ unwelcomed guests that just entered the infirmary all stop dead when they see their precious manager sticking a hand down their hysterical infirmary teacher's pants – who is in turn practically _crying_ his eyes out and looking like he's about to get an aneurysm – as well as their token megane shooting guard who has the top of his jersey suspiciously dropping off his shoulder.

Shinya internally kills himself.

This will not go well.

The Kaijou regulars totally do not freak out when they see their manager trying to cop a feel out of their infirmary doctor.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Okay yes, they do.

* * *

"SHIROCCHIIIII? TSUKASACCHI? _WHAT ARE THE BOTH OF YOU DOING_ –!"

"HIME IF YOU WANT TO YOU CAN KISS ME INSTEAD –"

"MORIYAMA SHUT THE FUCK UP –!"

"…"

 _"_ _[AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHH]! MANA[GER]-SAN WHYYYYYYYYY –!"_

" **WILL ALL OF YOU** ** _STOP SCREAMING AND_** ** _GET HER OFF OF ME!_** _?"_

* * *

Meanwhile, Nakamura is considering a less stressful job occupation other than group therapist. Lion-taming is starting to sound like a reasonable idea.

* * *

It takes a good twenty minutes for everyone to settle down, clean up all the blood from the floor because of Moriyama's nosebleed (mainly due to Kasamatsu backhanding him in the face combined with the sight of Shiro lewdly trying to kiss Tsukasa-sensei), and then try to convince a highly traumatized doctor to leave the safe confines of the staff toilet.

(Tsukasa-sensei says he might come out if 'Shinya-kun' comes to get him. Nakamura refuses. Partially because it's too troublesome and majorly because there's a chance that he might be going home without any feeling in his legs if he agrees to do so.)

Of course, they take _another_ five minutes to calm down after they realize that Shiro is clumsily trying to take off her shirt _in front of them_. Naturally, Kasamatsu is stammering and blushing the fuck outta there and yelling at her to 'STOP STRIPPING' and Hayakawa's nosebleed can rival Niagara Falls.

In the end, Kobori is assigned to Shiro hugging duty because 'he's big' and Shiro seems to like it, if her happily snuggling into his chest and smiling like the most bimbotic human Pomeranian ever has anything to say about it.

("But senpai I can –" "It's okay I can handle it, Kise." "But –" "I _insist_ , Kise." "But –" "Another word and I'm tripling your menu." "Ok.")

"Nakamura, explain," Kasamatsu orders tiredly, trying to stay as far away as he can from the white-haired girl on his tiny stool because she's staring at him like a piece of meat she wants to devour at the first opportunity. Kobori doesn't seem to notice and looks absurdly content hugging the younger girl, giving off the image of an older brother babying the shit out of his adorkable younger sister.

Moriyama is standing by the bed pouting because he doesn't get to hug Shiro and everybody is telling him that if she molests him he'll probably be okay with it (he is) and _that is a moral problem_. Hayakawa is sitting cross-legged on the floor, trying to get the image of 'Manager-san' taking off her shirt out of his head. And Kise is unhappily sitting on the edge of the bed with his arms folded in mild annoyance. Nobody knows, and nobody wants to ask why.

Nakamura is situated on the bed next to them, looking ready to start running if Kobori accidentally lets Shiro go.

"Do I have to?" Nakamura shoots Kasamatsu a pained look.

The Kaijou Captain doesn't miss how his second-year shooter is trying to cover up the mark on his neck.

"…Fine. At least tell us her condition," Kasamatsu decides to give his kouhai some reprieve.

Nakamura clears his throat and plainly avoids Shiro's hungry gaze as he explains himself.

"She has some abrasions on the back of her head, which sensei has already stitched up and bandaged for safety measures. The bruises on her body –" Nakamura pauses to briefly look at Kise, who all of a sudden turns from annoyed to extremely displeased, "– are hickeys. If we have anything to worry about, it's her wrists. Both of them are badly sprained..."

Hayakawa, Kasamatsu, and Moriyama immediately go into an uproar hearing this, their eyes blazing angrily and the temperature in the room plummeting to the negatives.

"I hope they go to [pri]son [for] doing that to Mana[ger]-san! [Or] else [I'll] [arrest] up my[self]!" Hayakawa growls, clenching his fists until they bleed and face blowing up red in anger, "I'm gonna…I'm gonna [hurt] them w[orse] than they did to Mana[ger]-san!"

"Don't get too hasty, Hayakawa. I would like to join you this time," Kobori uncharacteristically adds, arms tightening around Shiro protectively.

"I'm your captain, I get first pick, so back off," Kasamatsu tells the both of them without any hint of joking, an irritated tick mark pulsing visibly on his cheek.

"No offense Kasamatsu, but I get first dibs on their lowlife of a vice-captain for hurting Hime like that, if you don't mind," Moriyama pitches in icily, "I mean, how could he do _that_ to Hime? To an _author_?"

"None taken. I'm going to kick their shitty captain down Mt. Fuji. See how _he likes it_!" Kasamatsu hisses in agreement, standing up from his chair and looking about ready to stomp out and start kicking some ass with Moriyama and Hayakawa following suit. They actually look like they're about to go to war if their grim expressions are any indication, until Kise stops them.

"Senpais, you're upsetting Shirocchi ~suu," he says without any emotion, beckoning towards Shiro's direction.

The three of them freeze on the spot and turn to the smaller girl still being held against Kobori's chest. Their expressions instantly melt when they see her flushing face scrunched up, clearly upset, and her silvery-blue eyes turning watery and struggling a bit in Kobori's embrace.

"P-Please don't fight…" Shiro murmurs, tears welling up in her eyes, "Stay…with me…please?"

It was if the fire within them died the second they saw her teary face. Immediately, they stop whatever they're doing and hesitantly put a halt on their path to revenge, Kasamatsu rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, Hayakawa loudly apologizing to the currently upset Shiro and Moriyama swiftly making his way over to his princess's side.

"Of course we'll stay with you, Hime," Moriyama says with an affectionate smile, gently taking one of her hands and pressing her injured wrist against his lips, kissing the bandaged area tenderly.

"R-Really? You promise, Yoshitaka-senpai?" there's such a hopeful look in Shiro's eyes that something stirs in the Kaijou starter's gut when she stares up at him in pure innocence. Completed with her extremely childlike sentence and the little strands curling around her face like a halo, anyone with a soul could hear their hearts violently beating out of their chests at that particular moment of time.

 _Uwahh! Hime…you're too cute for you own good…!_ Moriyama feels like rejoicing because this is the first time he has a girl looking at him like that and it's _killing_ him not to hug her right now – but baby steps, alright? Ba-by st-eps.

"We promise," Kobori reassures her with a grandfatherly smile, giving her a soft squeeze.

"Hai! [We're] a team, [ri]ght? We take [care] of each o[ther]!" Hayakawa adds eagerly, propping his chin on the bed and grinning widely at the white-haired author.

"Teams…take care of each other…?" Shiro trails off, tilting her head drunkenly at the rebounder. They all await her answer whilst smiling reassuringly. Neither of them expects her to start _sniffing_.

"S-So...you won't…leave me?" Shiro whispers out, her cheeks flushing brilliantly, "Y-You won't…you won't abandon me?"

There's a stunned silence as they watch their precious manager's mask completely _shatter_ into pieces. The normally placid and calm white-haired author, with all of her glory and tenacity is actually _crumbling_. Suddenly she's cupping her face with her hands and hiccupping helplessly, her shoulders trembling and her sobs turning into flat-out _bawls_.

 _…_ _IS…IS SHE CRYING?_

"S-Senpai is a l-liar! T-There's no way s-senpai won't a-abandon me!" Shiro denies stubbornly, following up with louder bawling.

"No! Hime, that's not true, we really do love you!" Moriyama cries out in a panic.

"MANA[GER]-SAN! WE WON'T ABANDON YOU! UWAHH PLEASE DON'T [CRY] MANA[GER]-SAAAAN!" Hayakawa exclaims, tearing up himself and snot already running down his nose.

"Shiro-san, we may not love you romantically, but you are very important to us. _Please_ stop crying," Nakamura pleads.

"Sensei, please believe us. We're telling the truth," Kobori attempts to convince her by patting her head, only to be rejected when the younger girl roughly shakes him off.

"S-Shut up s-shut up s-shut up!" Shiro continues on childishly, ignoring the tears dripping down her cheeks.

 _NOW SHE'S A TSUNDERE?_

"Y-You all say t-that, but y-you're just gonna abandon me like how P-Papa and Mama and N-Niichan di – **OW**!"

Everyone almost jumps in shock when they see Kasamatsu walking over to the bed, before sitting down next to her and planting his hand on the top of her head, like he's about to pat her. And then all of a sudden he starts _grinding_ his palm over her the crown of her hair aggressively, making all the expressions of shock turn into absolute _horror_ as well as eliciting high-pitched squeals from the victim of the 'iron claw' herself.

"I-Itai…it hurts, Yukio-senpai!" Shiro whines loudly, blinking back her tears from the pain, "You didn't have to hit me!"

"That's because you're being an idiot!" Kasamatsu shouts back, "And I didn't even hit you, idiot!"

"I-I'm not being an idiot! You're being an idiot! Baka Yukio-senpai! Baka baka ba – **OWWWW**!"

"Don't act like a tsundere in front of me, dammit!"

"I-I'm not! Yukio-senpai's the tsundere – **OWWWWWWWWW**! Stop that, Yukio-senpai!"

"Not until you stop being an idiot, no!"

"You heard what I said! It's Yukio-senpai who's the idiot! Baka Yukio-senpai!"

" _Are you talking back to your senpai, Shiro?!"_

 _"_ _If senpai's a senpai that I'm an embryo!"_

'That doesn't even make any sense' is what everyone else is thinking, but are too speechless to say as they watch their feared Captain and stoic Manager duke it out in a verbal battle of 'Who Can Be More Childish'…apparently.

 _I don't think she's aware of what she's doing,_ Moriyama and Nakamura sweatdrop as Shiro manages to wheedle her way out of Kobori's hug and is already crawling towards Kasamatsu's direction, albeit a bit clumsily as she almost falls flat on her face when she does so. Kasamatsu doesn't seem to notice it either when Shiro plops herself onto his lap before straddling him – also ignoring the fact that her face is _really close_ to his and they're both glaring at each other like little kids.

"Baka-senpai."

"Idiot."

"Hey, I'm not –!"

"Yes you are."

"D-Don't interrupt me –"

"You're not making sense right now, Shiro."

"S-Shut up! I-I always make sense –"

"You sound like a child."

"At least I don't sound like a tsundere like Yukio-senpai!"

" _Haah_? Aren't you sounding like a tsundere right now? Telling me to shut up?"

"Shut up shut up shut –"

"What are you, *Shana?"

"Eh? Yukio-senpai watches anime? Weaboooo…"

"If you know her too then aren't you one yourself?"

 _That_ definitely shuts Shiro up. Her jaw is dropping like she's a bit shocked by the revelation and looks like she's about to retort, but backs down with an irritated furrow of her eyebrows. Her arms are folded adorably like a child's and appears to be thinking very hard on what to say next.

(Because apparently common sense is the only way the shut up a drunk, whiny, crybaby tsundere.)

Kasamatsu sighs and wraps his arms around the white-haired girl's waist, pulling her a little closer to his chest and letting her head fall on his shoulder.

"Feeling better now, Shiro?" he asks in a much kinder tone, rubbing her back comfortingly.

He hears an angry sniff, and takes that as a yes.

"Don't stop doing that," he hears her mutter in demand.

"Doing what?" he asks teasingly.

(Kasamatsu has two younger brothers at home. One who is an absolute tsundere and the other who is a total brocon. Guess which brother he likes to mess with the most.)

"D-Don't stop…w-whatever you're doing…" now the Kaijou captain _really_ wants to chuckle because Shiro's burrowing her face into his varsity jacket like a little girl and it's _so cute_. He recalls the time when his youngest brother Maki got into a fight at school because people made fun of his name and called it 'girly'. Maki returned home covered in bruises and scratches and was crying his eyes out to 'Yukio-nii' and thus made it _impossible_ for Kasamatsu to patch him up because he kept blubbering so much. Kasamatsu ended up devising a method to calm him down, and it's _hilarious_ because Shiro's response to his little 'method' is _exactly_ the same as Maki's, word by word.

"Yeah, yeah," Kasamatsu mutters with a content smile, "you crybaby."

"I'm not –"

 _Click. Click. Click._

Both Shiro and Kasamatsu look up to the sound of clicks and are greeted by the sight of Moriyama, Kobori and Nakamura staring at them with their phones out.

"…What are you three doing?" Kasamatsu asks, annoyed.

"Taking a picture," they answer in unison, unfazed.

"… _What for_?" Kasamatsu asks again, now sporting a tick mark on his temple.

"Because it's adorable –"

"For safekeeping –"

"Blackmail."

"Oi, blackmail? Nakamura –!"

"C-Captain…I have so much [res]pect [for] you [right] now!" Hayakawa exclaims, eyes sparkling in awe at the flawless display of parenting.

"You should respect me all the – o-oi Shiro, w-what are you doing!?"

Kasamatsu's face heats up when he finds Shiro's darkly flushing, tear-streaked face merely millimeters away from his. Her lips are reddish and swollen and her silvery-blue eyes are dilated into slits. The Kaijou Captain is now completely aware how _close_ he is to the white-haired manager and is about to flip his shit when a pair of cold hands cup his blushing face.

"Yukio-senpai…" Shiro whimpers, raising her hips slightly so she has a tiny height advantage over him. Kasamatsu feels his throat dry up and his breathing quicken when she leans into him, licking her lips contemplatively and making a weak moaning sound.

"P-Please kiss me, senpai…" her response instantly makes everyone in the room swallow.

Kasamatsu is currently having a conflicting battle in his head on whether to stop Shiro from leaning in any further and taking his first – _yes_ , his first – kiss or actually going along with it. Because _damn_ , she's cute as hell and she really, _really_ looks like every otaku's wet dream of a typical drunk shoujo heroine.

Kasamatsu's hands are still secured around her waist and he doesn't have the motivation to push her away or let her go. He's pretty sure he looks like a fucking idiot right now with his face redder than lava but –

He sees her eyes close shut and her lips descending onto his, and feels her warm breath tingling on his skin and her delicate fingers soft against his warm cheeks. The initial need to stop her is easily wiped from his mind when he zeroes in on her swollen, apple-red lips.

 _Ah, fuck it_.

Kasamatsu slowly surrenders to the temptation that is Shiro's lips despite the warning signals in his brain telling him not to. His grip around her waist relaxes and his breathing steadies, as if awaiting a final blow.

It only takes seconds before he realizes that his lips are meeting with nothing but air and the weight on his lap is suddenly gone.

"Shiro –?"

He collectively gapes with the rest of the Kaijou regulars when he sees the drunk Shiro being possessively held back by a severe-looking Kise Ryouta. Her face darkens if possible, and she's panting heavily while being confined onto Kise's chest, her wrists gently restrained by Kise's hands and her shivering legs spread lewdly over his thighs.

"You shouldn't be so rude, _Shirocchi_ ," Kise whispers into her ear, and everybody in hearing range flushes pink when Shiro _mewls_ at the blonde's dark tone, "if you wanted to, you should've asked me."

"R-Ryouta…" Shiro's lower lip trembles as she cranes her head up to him expectantly, her fingers eagerly interlocking with his, "p-please…Ryouta…"

It would've been a pretty hilarious moment if the situation wasn't normally so dire, because everybody's jaw just _drops_ when Kise leans down and gracefully captures the white-haired girl's lips with his.

" **WHAAAAAAAAAT –** "

" ** _THEEEEEEEEEE –_** "

" **[FLLLLLLLLLYYYING] –** "

" **FUUUUUUUCK?** "

…Seems to be a very appropriate and popular reaction to what they just witnessed.

In fact, the two of them seem to be just _going_ at it without abandon. Kise is kissing her so deeply that her body is twitching and convulsing at the sensations the blonde's skilled lips and tongue are giving her. Moriyama makes a high-pitched noise like a terrified squirrel when their lips finally part for air, only for Kise to grab onto her waist, spin her around and _slam_ their lips together once again.

" _Ohmyfuckinggod,"_ Kasamatsu whispers in a mix of awe and horror as Shiro's fingers latch onto Kise's jacket in a vice-like grip and pulls them even closer together. He literally can't look away when the blonde teases the smaller girl's lips with his tongue, making Shiro jolt against him like she just received an electric shock.

" _H-haah…_ m-more… _Ryouta…_ " Shiro pleads in between kisses – which Kise promptly agrees to when he tilts her chin up and _devours_ her lips even more passionately.

Yes, this is all happening with four extremely stunned seniors watching from the sidelines.

"No fair," Moriyama sobs and sports a well-timed boner.

"…" Kobori is speechless, and is at the same time dying a bit inside.

"Get a room," Nakamura mutters under his breath while looking away and trying not to blush.

Hayakawa is internally screaming, blushing and slapping himself for no reason at the same time.

Kasamatsu just wishes that someone would just cough or clear their throat or something to make their situation less awkward because they are _literally_ watching supposedly two close 'friends' make out with each other like it's their last day on earth or something.

Fortunately for them, Shiro's stamina eventually gives out and she collapses into Kise's arms, her body instantly going limp as she pants exhaustedly onto his shoulder. Her pants slowly subside into very faint snoring as the blonde gently tucks her into bed, pulling the covers over her. The Kaijou regulars watch with fascination when Kise starts to pat their manager's head with practiced ease, like it's the most natural thing in the world. It probably is, really.

They try to catch a change of expression on their Ace's face. They're surprised to see that Kise doesn't even _look_ embarrassed by what he's done, except for the very faint flush on his cheeks, but that could just be from the heat. Otherwise, he's completely impassive and looking like he's taking a casual stroll in the park and not just French-kissed the fuck out of a random stranger along the way.

Moriyama is the first to break the silence.

" _KIIIISEEE!_ Why do you _always_ get the good ones?" Moriyama complains loudly.

"What you did to sensei was _very_ inappropriate," Kobori sternly replies.

"I _SAW NOTHIIIIINGGG!_ [AAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHHH]! MY _EYEEEESS!_ " Hayakawa yells while trying to think of happy, innocent thoughts. Happy, innocent thoughts like their manager's rare smiles and words of praise and her oddly endearing over-protectiveness whenever the rebounder slaps his face too much and NOT thoughts of her lips being tarnished and ravaged by his _kouhai_ of all people.

"You took advantage of her," Kasamatsu butts in.

Kise instantly whips his head towards his Kaijou captain and _glares_. "You don't really have much right to say that to me senpai, considering you were going to _let_ her kiss you."

Kasamatsu recoils, but stays his ground and glares back. However, he doesn't really have the chance to say anything else because Kise's attention is quickly refocused onto Nakamura.

"Nakamura-senpai, do you remember how much of the liquid was left in the syringe you found earlier?" Kise asks calmly.

Nakamura blinks owlishly at him and tries to recall the events that happened barely hours ago.

"It was almost full, about three-quarters the way in," their token megane player replies, before giving Kise a puzzled look, "why?"

Kise then turns to the Kaijou power forward and asks something else, "Hayakawa-senpai, do you recall if Shirocchi actually _drank_ anything from that syringe?"

The enthusiastic rebounder effectively calms down his blushing and hyperactivity to rack his brains for an answer. He remembers the Kamakura High captain holding the syringe and placing it into Shiro's mouth, and his blood boils a bit at the memory.

"She could have, that should ex[plain] why she's acting [like] this!" Hayakawa says in confirmation, "it might've been [alcohol]!"

Kise briefly nods and folds his arms, eyes shut tightly and eyebrows scrunched together contemplatively.

"What are you thinking, Kise?" Kasamatsu prods gently.

Kise opens his eyes and regards his captain with a grim look. "Shirocchi only acts like this when she's drunk."

The Kaijou regulars all blink at this new piece of information. Their train of thought to this revelation basically goes along the lines of: _Um, no shit._

"And so…?"

Kise responds with an even grimmer expression. "Then wouldn't I have tasted alcohol in her mouth when I kissed her?"

Silence and realization dawns onto the group and Nakamura's eyes widen in response. Both Kise and he turn to each other with half-knowing looks, and the token megane is suddenly getting what Kise is meaning.

"Mind explaining to us?" Kobori asks, greatly curious in what his kouhais are thinking.

Nakamura shares a look with the blonde model before taking a deep breath and explaining, "Kise and I think that Shiro had been forced fed with a club drug."

"[Club] [drugs]?" Hayakawa pronounces uncertainly, casting a confused look around the room.

"Sometimes known as **_Rohypnol_** or **_Ketamine_**. Or more commonly known as 'date rape drugs'. These kind of drugs are used to assist in sexual assault and rape," Nakamura explains thickly, already knowing that his entire team is going to return to homicidal mode by the time he's finished with his explanation.

"Date rape drugs are odorless, colorless and tasteless, and can be easily slipped into a drink so the victim will not know they're being drugged unless they're paying attention to what they're drinking. The effects of said drug can make a person feel confused and weak, and liable to make them pass out for a certain period of time. This is so that the person who gets drugged will be unable to defend themselves or fight back from assault," Nakamura breathes heavily, "Excess of it can also lead to death."

The atmosphere in the room easily thickens _hundredfold_ at Nakamura's statement, and from the corner of his eye, Kasamatsu, Moriyama, Kobori and Hayakawa's faces collectively harden.

"However, this is not a problem here," he continues with a shaky sigh, "Our problem is that Shiro-san will not remember what they did to her."

Before any one of them can ask why, Kasamatsu raises a hand to stop them, allowing Nakamura to finish his explanation.

"Date rape drugs can induce memory loss when ingested. This means that while they're being drugged, the victim will remember _nothing_ of what happened during the duration of the drug's influence. _This is our problem_."

There's a thick, heady silence when Nakamura finishes and the atmosphere quickly turns suffocating.

"[Are] you [seri]ous, Naka[mura]?" Hayakawa asks with abject horror, "so you mean, we can't –"

"We can't prosecute them, because Hime doesn't remember," Moriyama mutters angrily, "and we can't prove that they drugged her either!"

"But wait! I [only] saw them give [her] the d[rug] when I got th[ere]! Mana[ger]-san sh[ould] [still] be [able] to [remember] what happened be[fore] she took it! [Right], [ _right]_?" Hayakawa asks around desperately.

"That's where you're wrong, Hayakawa-senpai," Kise says quietly.

Nakamura looks at the blonde in confusion. The megane shooting guard thought that their Ace would've felt hopeful by the fact that Shiro would still remember enough of what happened to her to press charges, so why was he –?

"Shirocchi won't press charges, no matter how bad the crime is –"

"That's ridiculous," Kobori cuts in, "anyone would report this kind of thing –!"

" 'Anyone' doesn't apply to Shirocchi," Kise retorts somberly, "I think the worst thing is – there are a lot of people like Shirocchi who won't report that they've almost been raped, or harassed."

"W-Why's that?" Hayakawa asks uncertainly.

The expression on Kise's face is almost unreadable, with a mix of disgust, sadness and a bit of shame at the same time.

"That's because the police won't take you seriously if you report it. I've heard from some of the models at work. The police will just assume that you were 'dressed inappropriately' and that you were 'asking for it', or maybe 'you were lying that you couldn't fight back' and even 'you were leading them on'. In the worst case, they won't believe you at all. Especially if you don't 'act' like you've been raped or harassed, or if there aren't enough bruises on your body to justify the intent of your assailant, or even if you tell your story too clearly or not at all. That's why most people who have gone through that kind of crap won't report the crime. Japan's law enforcers have feudalistic views when it comes to rape and harassment victims and their assailants use this loophole to get off scot-free," Nakamura explains with a sigh, sinking into the bed in defeat and choking back a cry of despair.

Nakamura can't ever empathize with the people who have been unfortunate enough to go through that kind of thing, but he can't help but feel nauseous at the very thought of one of the models he's had the chance to get on friendly terms with break down in silence because they know that it's no use trying to find justice and support from the government that's _supposed_ to protect them – all the while knowing that their assailant is still out there, on the prowl and ready to break them once more.

"You're also forgetting one, important factor, senpai," Kise pushes his hair back in mild frustration, "is that most people don't report the crime because they want to _save face_. Why do you think Japan has one of the lowest rates for rape crimes? It's not as if it _doesn't happen_ , it's just that even if you report it, it could ruin your image and reputation and possibly your life because before a trial, your name and address will be _revealed_ to your offender. Though, it might be even more realistic to say that our society's mindset is mainly part of the problem. If fifty people see someone getting harassed or raped in plain sight, _they won't help_. They like to assume that it's something much less happening, or just ignore it altogether. And even if it's not, there's always a high chance for the victim to get blamed."

"That's…" Moriyama bites his lip.

"Horrible, right? I know, senpai," Kise says with a broken smile, "but it's not so bad, once you try to forget about it."

If that one-liner doesn't unsettle the Kaijou regulars, nothing will, because all of them turn to Kise with looks of panicked alarm.

"Kise, you –?"

The blonde shakes his head and smiles weakly at his captain. "Next time, senpai."

Kasamatsu doesn't take his eyes off Kise and nods in hesitant acceptance. He is definitely going to have a word with their Ace about this, one way or another.

"For now, all we can do is to be here for Shirocchi," Kise looks down at the sleeping girl on the bed, her breathing shallow and cheeks filled with a healthy, pinkish color. A small, gentle smile crosses the blonde's face as he lightly brushes her cheek with his knuckles, "Let me settle the problem."

"You have a plan, Kise?" Kasamatsu asks, eyebrow raised, "What is it?"

Kise places a finger in between his lips and winks knowingly at him.

"It's a secret ~suu."

* * *

 _"Moshi moshi~"_

"How unusual for you to call me today. Are you not aware that I go for horse-riding on weekends?"

 _"_ _Sorry for disturbing then! I just need you to pull a few strings for me~! Is that okay?"_

"Oh? Asking a favor from me? I hope you understand the risks of doing such a thing."

 _"_ _You're the only one I can turn to right now."_

"I see. And how will helping you benefit me?"

 _"_ _Does being pictured as a sympathetic and recognized political figure for rape and harassment victims sound good to you~?"_

"Complicated words, coming from you. I'm listening."

 _"_ _Meanie~ I'll take that as a yes, then~?"_

"I'll see how it goes. Send me the details later."

 _"_ _Thanks, Akashicchi."_

"You owe me, Ryouta."

" _As always~! Sayonara ~suu!"_

Akashi Seijuurou sets down his cellphone on top of the bathroom sink and inwardly smirks.

 _This should be interesting. Someone has affected Ryouta's life enough to motivate him to pull favors from_ me _._

Akashi checks his appearance in the mirror, his malevolent heterochromatic eyes prominent in his reflection.

 _I wonder if that person will become a hindrance or a blessing to Ryouta..._

Akashi's smirk grows wider.

* * *

 _How interesting._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I do not own KnB and THIS FRIGGNG CHAPTER IS KILLING ME (my house kept getting blackouts before I could save. THREE TIMES. THREE. FUCKING. TIMES.)

Also, I'm really sorry if Kise seems OOC in this, and I hope I'm not making Shiro too damsel-ish. And also if I'm putting a bit too much emphasis and info on Japan's rape culture (1 hour of research does that to you).

 ***Shana:** The main female protagonist of an anime called Shakugan no Shana and is a bonafide tsundere. If you don't know what that means, look it up. Also, hope you like Tsukasa-sensei! (I had to write him after reading the latest chapter of Shokugeki no Soma)

And yay for Akashi-kun.

* * *

 **UPDATE:**

I also forgot to add that the next chapter will be NG-shuus/OMAKE. Hope my humor works out for you all.


	8. Outtakes (1)

**KAIJOU'S SHIRO**

Outtakes – _This chapter will mostly be in_ _ **dialogue**_ _, you can skip this if you want to_

* * *

 **Prologue, Take 1**

* * *

"You are aware that I can't play basketball, right?"

"You can be our manager then – **ITAI**!"

Kise instinctively flinches when he glances at the murderous, pissed off face of his normally peppy make-up artist – who has just stabbed him in the ribs. Violently. With a _foundation brush_.

"Kise-kun," Yuri the Makeup Artist says with false sweetness, cocking her head to the side and twirling her foundation brush like an extremely efficient murder weapon.

"Will you stop. Fuckin'. _Movin'_?"

Kise sits up in his chair and starts sweating weirdly.

"Y-Yes ma'am ~suu!"

 _Uwahhh, her country girl accent is coming out!_

The fearsome makeup artist snaps her head towards the source of the insulting thought and _smiles_.

" **You motherfuckers got somethin' to say to me,** ** _hmmmm_**?"

" _Director, save us_!"

"CUT!"

* * *

 **Prologue, Take 4**

* * *

"I have no experience, Ryouta," Shiro furrows her eyebrows, wincing slightly as her hair stylist starts curling her hair.

"Ah."

Shiro stiffens the second she hears that. It is _never_ a good thing when your stylist says something like 'Ah' when they're _curling your fucking hair with a curling iron._ **Never**.

"…Stylist-san?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

" _Why do I smell smoke?_ "

"…"

"…"

"…"

" **SOMEBODY GET A FIRE EXTINGUISHER –**!"

"CUT!"

* * *

 **Prologue, Take 12**

* * *

"Don't worry, Shirocchi! I'll make sure your application's streamlined to Coach! We'll be working together in no time!"

"Thank you, Ryou – **ah**!"

Gravity finally decides to slap Kise back to reality when he tips over in his chair, before promptly losing his balance and crashing _spectacularly_ into the white-haired author. There's no time for either of them to react as they both yelp loudly before crashing onto the floor together.

"O-Ow…sorry about that Shirocchi –" Kise groans as he waves his hand apologetically before quickly latching onto something to support himself.

 _Boing~_

Eh?

 _Boing~ Boing~ Boing~_

…Eh? Since when was the floor so _bouncy_ …?

 _Boing~_

And so _soft_ …?

"H-Hyaa~"

Kise's blood runs cold as he blinks his eyes open, only to find himself staring dead into his friend's reddening face, her eyes quickly averting away from his and her hand tactfully covering over her mouth.

"R-Ryouta…"

Kise can feel the incoming assault of an unwarranted boner when he glances down to see _exactly_ what is he holding onto. He immediately loses all the feeling in his legs when he realizes that his hand is _not_ latching onto the leg of a chair or the floor, but Shiro's _breast_. Her very bouncy, incredibly soft, B-cup breast –

"Hentai…"

Kise flinches at the accusation – and then out of pure shock, squeezes her breast _again_ for good measure.

This time Shiro lets out a surprised moan worthy of an AV idol's, which – much to Kise's dismay – attracts the attention of… _them_.

"Ryouta…will you please stop fondling my breasts?"

Whelp, that's it. He'd dead.

" **RYOUTA-KUN...** "

" **KISE-KUN…** "

 _EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!_

Behind Kise, his manager Kyouka has her arms crossed and her face entirely black, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor as if asking, 'Are you _done_ molesting her yet?' and Shiro's manager Kana is exuding a deadly aura worthy of Satan and is slapping her Paper Fan of Doom onto the palm of her hand in an absolutely terrifying manner. Both of them are sporting serial killer smiles that can probably make Hannibal Lecter piss himself out of fear.

"W-Wait Kyoukacchi, Kanacchi I can explain –"

The smiles on their faces twitch murderously.

" **No excuses, you PERVERT**!"

" ** _GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! DON'T KILL ME, PLEASE –_**!"

"O-Oi Director, isn't it time to say –"

The crew member pauses when he sees that the Director _not_ in his Director's chair and is instead joining the two infuriated managers in chasing the terrified blonde model around the set while wearing a ' **Shiro-chan Protection Squad'** T **-** shirt…and is that a _machine gun prop_ he's aiming at Kise's head –?

"D-DIRECTOR!"

" **You piece of sh*t how dare you try to fondle my precious daughter's growing chest you m*therf*cking pretty boy pedophile** –"

"DIRECTOR, SHE ISN'T EVEN YOUR DAUGHTER, AND WHO THE HELL IS DOING THOSE 'BLEEP' SOUND EFFECTS –!"

" **PREPARE YOURSELF, M*THERF*CKER** –!"

" ** _SAVE ME, SHIROCCHI –_** _!_ "

"CUT! CUT! CUT! _CUUUUUUUUUUT!_ "

* * *

 **Chapter I, Take 1**

( _Scene where Shiro is asking for directions to the Kaijou High Basketball Gym)_

* * *

"Um, excuse me, do you know where –"

 ** _THUMP._**

Shiro stares blankly at the fallen form of the blushing first-year boy.

She nudges his body with the heel of her foot, and realizes he's not breathing. She calmly looks at the Director and drags a finger over her throat, calling for a cutscene.

"CUT! AND CALL AN AMBULANCE!"

* * *

 **Chapter I, Take 2**

* * *

"Um, excuse me, do you know –"

 ** _THUMP._**

Shiro stares, mildly fascinated at how her name is being written in blood like a scene from a murder mystery film.

"Ah, that's the wrong kanji –"

"CUT! AND CLEAN UP THE BLOOD WHILE YOU'RE AT IT!"

* * *

 **Chapter I, Take 3**

* * *

"Um, excuse me, do you –"

"H-HAI! ICHIJOU-SAN! H-HOW MAY I ASSIST Y-YOU? D-DO YOU NEED YOUR SHOES WAXED? D-DO YOU NEED ME TO C-CARRY YOU? O-OR DO YOU WANT M-ME TO HELP YOU K-KILL SOMEONE? I-I WON'T MIND –"

"Wait, I didn't say anything yet –"

"WAHHH! I'M SORRY! P-PLEASE ALLOW ME TO PROSTRATE MYSELF BEFORE YOU!"

Before Shiro can even stop the boy, he accidentally slams face-first into the floor and is promptly knocked out.

Shiro doesn't even need to check whether he's alive before looking at the camera like she's in the office.

"Cut?"

The Director sighs. "Yes, Cut."

* * *

 **Chapter I, Take 4**

* * *

"Um excuse me –"

 ** _THUMP_**.

* * *

 **Chapter I, Take 5**

* * *

"Um –"

 ** _THUMP._**

* * *

 **Chapter I, Take 6**

* * *

Shiro doesn't even bother asking as she sits down on the floor and starts penning down notes for her newest chapter, ignoring the steady flow of blood near her feet and the Director's exasperated call of 'Cut'.

* * *

 **Chapter I, Take 7**

* * *

The filming crew finally gets their shit together and brings over a girl that Shiro can ask directions from. After six takes, Shiro has absolutely zero hopes for this take to go as planned and is biding her time where more blood will stain the hallway floors.

Of course, she's right on that aspect. Kind of.

"Excuse me; do you know where the basketball club's gym is?"

She's admittedly pretty, Shiro admits, a bit on the short side with one _helluva_ rack. G-cup, maybe? She's looking up at Shiro with stars in her eyes and a blush staining her cheeks. _This will not go well_.

"H-H-Hai! U-Um j-j-just t-take a r-right tu-turn a-at t-the –"

The girl's cheeks practically _pop_ with red and looks almost ready to start mentally combusting.

 _Incoming in 3…2…1_

"I-ICHIJOU-SAN! W-WILL YOU PLEASE SIGN MY BR –"

"Nope," the Director deadpans and lazily beckons one of the PAs to shut her up.

The PA tosses a water bottle at the girl's head. She faints. She doesn't get back up.

They decide to just tell Shiro where the gym is.

* * *

 **Chapter II, Take 1**

( _Scene where Shinya Nakamura is teaching Shiro the ropes)_

* * *

"I'm simply wondering why it's you who's showing me the ropes senpai. I expected either the captain or vice-captain to do it."

"First of all, Kasamatsu-senpai is clearly out of commission," Shinya explains emotionlessly, "Kobori Kouji, jersey number 8, our vice-captain and center is supposed to teach you."

"Why isn't he doing that then?"

"Because he looks like he really wants to talk to you, if only he can get the shit out of his ass fast enough to do that. And I can assure you that whatever he wants to talk to you about will have nothing to do with basketball."

The room suddenly becomes silent. So silent that one can hear a pin drop from five hundred miles away.

Shinya, unaware of what just occurred, turns to Shiro for assistance. She sends him a look that is eerily similar to his 'I'm so done with you' expression he gives to the Kaijou regulars on a daily basis. Shinya sighs.

"…I just said that out loud, didn't I?"

"Yes."

"Ah."

"…"

"…"

"…"

 _"_ _Nakamura, 100 laps around the school."_

 _"_ CUT _."_

* * *

 **Chapter II, Take 5**

* * *

"Aren't you tired?"

"A little."

"Are you even getting enough sleep every night?"

"Mmhmm…"

"What's that supposed to –?"

 ** _THUMP_**.

The entire filming crew, Kaijou team, and Shinya all stare incredulously at the white-haired girl curled up on the floor wearing a sleeping mask, bundled up in a cute and fluffy panda motif futon and snoring contentedly.

"…"

Everybody turns to the Director, who's rummaging for something from his massive suitcase. Seconds later, he pulls out an old-fashioned camera.

"Director –"

The lanky Director holds up a hand to stop him from talking.

"Shh," he whispers, taking off the camera cover, "Don't ruin this for me."

The Director starts clicking away on his camera, most likely for his 'Daughter's Photo Collection' as the rest of the crew just collectively sigh and settle down for tea break. Shinya walks over to the Director's PA and asks the burning question on the tip of his tongue.

"Is that –?"

"Normal?" the PA finishes his sentence for him, sipping his cup of tea tiredly like some war-torn veteran soldier, "To answer that: yes. This happens _every single time_ Shiro-san appears in a scene. Every. Single. Time."

"I see," Shinya deadpans, blinking lifelessly.

The PA pours a cup of tea and passes it over to the second-year shooting guard and sends him a jaded smile that says, 'I've seen it all'.

"Want some tea? It's chamomile."

Shinya blinks again and nods before graciously accepting the cup. "Yes, thank you."

Shinya sits down next to him and sips his drink. It's warm.

And thus, they started dating and lived happily ever –

"WAIT! THIS ISN'T THAT KIND OF STORY! CUT! CUT! **_CUUUUUUUT_**!"

"Takeshi, you're fired!"

"W-What? What did I do –?"

"YOU WOKE SHIRO-CHAN UP!"

"Wah but –"

"Mmm…so noisy…"

"TAKESHI! FIRED!"

" ** _*cue loud sobbing noises*_**."

* * *

 **Chapter II, Take 8**

( _Scene after Shiro's 'make Kaijou no. 1 in Japan' speech)_

* * *

"H-How beautiful Hime! Of course we'll work together with you!" Moriyama cries out happily and reaches out to pick a rose out of nowhere.

A black-and-white flogger appears in Moriyama's hand.

"…"

"Senpai…is that."

The pretty boy shooting guard stares at the flogger in his hand.

"Wrong prop," he says lamely.

Over to the filming crew, the Director shoots the prop crew a tired look that says, 'Are you fucking _serious?_ '

They all shrug. Whoops.

* * *

 **Chapter II, Take 9**

* * *

This time, it's an engraved collar.

* * *

 **Chapter II, Take 10**

* * *

Third time, they're handcuffs.

* * *

 **Chapter II, Take 11**

* * *

There is a strangely phallic-shaped, brown-colored item in Moriyama's hand…

"Hey, isn't this a –"

" _CUT_! PROP TEAM, WHAT THE HELL? GET THAT THING OUT OF MY DAUGHTER'S SIGHT!"

"But Director, it's just a chocolate banana –"

"I don't care! I want all the BDSM props _trashed_!"

"But –"

"No buts, or you're fired!"

The BDSM prop manager pouts and mutters a 'meanie meanie Director-san' while Moriyama goes onto his knees and apologizes profusely to a completely bewildered Shiro.

* * *

 **Chapter II, Take 12**

* * *

"Yukio-senpai."

Kasamatsu and Kise both snap their heads to their manager's direction. It takes a few seconds for Kasamatsu to process the current situation properly before he realizes that Shiro is carrying a familiar-looking engraved collar from the previous scene and a _leash_.

"I understand that there is some form of disciplinary action needed to be taken when it comes to training and practice, but can you not use physical violence on Ryouta? If you have to do so, please use this," Shiro explains diplomatically. She glances at Kise sharply, who jerks up to attention.

"Ryouta, sit."

"Arf!" Kise barks on basic instinct alone – shocking _everyone_ on the set, as he pants happily when Shiro locks the collar around his neck. Upon a closer inspection, they realize that the name engraved on the collar is 'Ryouta' in fancy yellow lettering. The white-haired girl then attaches the leash to the collar and places the end of it onto Kasamatsu's hand.

"Hai," she says with a sincere smile, "please do what you want with him."

Kasamatsu's face turns entirely stony as he looks at the leash on his hand, to the very serious girl in front of him, and then to the Kaijou Ace sitting on the floor with imaginary puppy ears on his head.

"Arf?" Kise questions cheerfully, cocking his head to the side.

 ** _CRACK_**.

…

…

…

…

"Hime, I think you just broke Kasamatsu," Moriyama says slowly.

"…Oh dear."

" ** _CUT_**!" the Director orders loudly before snapping his head at the prop crew's direction, wagging his finger accusingly at the currently collared-up Kise.

"I THOUGHT I ORDERED ALL BDSM PROPS TO BE TRASHED!"

"We did trash them, sir."

" _THEN WHAT ON EARTH ARE THOSE!?"_

"Um Director, those items belong to me, and they're not props," Shiro breaks in casually, letting the implications of her sentence sink in.

The Director stares at his supposedly 'innocent daughter' in pure shock. A minute ticks by before he falls off his chair with a defeated **_THUMP_**.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Was it something I said?" Shiro asks in confusion.

The filming crew sighs. They all just want to get this day over and done with.

* * *

 **Chapter II, Take 20**

( _Basically 'What Happened If Kasamatsu Woke Up a Few Minutes Earlier')_

* * *

"SHIT, WHERE AM I? WHO BROUGHT ME HERE –?"

Kasamatsu's throat dries up instantly when he realizes that he hasn't heard his cue to 'wake up' yet and is now staring at the half-naked form of Ichijou Shiro. Her silky white hair is slung over her shoulder and the back of her bra isn't hooked on properly. And then you have her skirt that's bunched seductively around her hips, proudly showing off her very fine, panty-clad ass to an _extremely_ embarrassed Kasamatsu Yukio.

"Yukio-senpai, can you please turn around, I'm not done changing yet –"

Kasamatsu falls back onto the bed like a rock. The crew members all look to each other in concern before turning their heads to their replacement Director.

"Keep rolling," the replacement Director says nonchalantly as he flips through his porn magazine.

* * *

 **Chapter II, Take 24**

* * *

"– and that's all. Not too much to sign at all."

Blink.

"Ah, and don't forget the limited editions of _Nippon Inspirations_ –"

Blink.

"Just address them to: _the marvelous Takeuchi Genta, who has skill and talent unparalleled with none other_ –"

Shiro can't help but inwardly twitch at the STACKS of magazine issues on her Coach's desk. 'Not much too sign at all' her ass! A top agent working at the FBI would've _keeled over_ by the amount of shit she had to sign!

"Get them all done by today, alright? Have a good night, Ichijou," Coach Takeuchi calls out cheerfully as picks up his bag and leaves the staffroom with a tiny skip in his steps.

Shiro unconsciously crushes the pen in her grip and snaps her head viciously at the camera.

" _You will all rue this day,_ " she threatens lowly, before moodily returning to her 'paperwork'.

The filming crew sighs contentedly while sipping steaming cups of hot tea. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing an annoyed Shiro at the end of the day, after all.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

I don't own KnB and dear god after reading this I realize my humor sucks.

Also, I'm currently resting at the hospital due to my asthma condition, so I'm really sorry if updates are taking too long (considering I'm still schooling at the same time too). I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and pray that this won't be my last. Drop some reviews, alright? I love reading them!

 **Question:** Do you all want more chapter outtakes (for Chapter III, IV V and VI)?


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